Re: GEORGE GIDDINGS-CAPE CHARLES, VIRGINIA-1800'S
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In reply to:
GEORGE GIDDINGS-CAPE CHARLES, VIRGINIA-1800'S
elenora GiddingsIvory 7/10/03
I need to ammend my latest reply in regard to the Milly and Comfort Giddings in the 1820 Northampton Co. VA census. There were no census forms in 1820 – the forms themselves were handwritten as well as the entries, and I made the mistake of assuming the actual census form was the same as a published 1820 census form that I use when extracting information from census images off the Internet. When I looked at the census image again today, and this time magnified the image so that I could easily read the headings at the top of the page, I saw that the entire page was for "Free Coullored Persons", instead of their being in a separate column on pages for "Free White Persons".
Milly and Comfort Giddins are the only people on the the entire Eastern Shore of VA listed as heads of households with any spelling of the Giddings name in 1820.
There are 4 people in Milly’s household: 1 male 45 and up, 2 females under 14, and 1 female 26-45. Milly would have been 33.
There are 6 people in Comfort’s household: 3 males under 14, 1 female under 14, 1 female 14-26, and 1 female 26-45. Comfort would have been 41 or 42.
Their brother George Giddings would have been 38, and is not listed anywhere in the 1820 census that I can tell, although he may have been the older male in Milly’s household and his age was wrong.
I looked up the Giddings name in the 1830 Northampton Co. census, and there are three heads of households, all free black: Comfort Giddens, Ben Giddens, and Danniel Giddens. Unfortunately, the census taker only counted the number and ages of the white households, and for free black households wrote down the name of the head of family only.
Comfort Giddens is also in the 1840 census, and Milly reappears in the 1850 census, living alone. There is no sign of their brother George in any of these years.