The 1860 Census Doodle


     This is the last page of the 1860 Tuscaloosa, Alabama census.   The census enumerator was my great-great-grandfather, Daniel Cribbs.
     Daniel had left New Philadelphia, Ohio, circa 1820, with his brothers Peter and Jacob to start a life in clay-rich Tuscaloosa.   He soon became a sheriff in Tuscaloosa, a pottery business owner, the owner of a steamboat, and a prominent citizen.   Here, a year before the Civil War, we find him taking the census during the time of unrest between the North and the South.    Apparently he "doodles" on the page between census stops and writes the words, "Faithful" and "Ohio, Ohio",...
...giving us a glimpse into his mindset and heart at that time.    Ironically, his sons, Harvey, Daniel, Jr., Hoyt, and Philander all fought on the side of the South, while Daniel's nephews, back in Ohio, fought for the North!

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