Project 1850

Project 1850 FFORTS are under way in several Pennsylvania areas to facilitate the use of the 1850 Census of the Commonwealth. An index of the Census of East Coventry and of East Cain Townships in Chester County is now available. A monumental alphabetical transcript of the entire 1850 Census of Westmoreland County has just been completed. In its Bulletin the Montgomery County Historical Society is publishing serially that county's Census in abstracted form. An index to the heads of families enumerated in the Census for the City of Philadelphia was compiled in 1964 - 1965 and is available on microfilm. It, however, is restricted to the area of the old or original city: it covers only the households situate between the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers and Vine and South Streets. It does not include any in the boroughs, districts and townships outside that area, which comprised Philadelphia County and which, in 1854, were joined to the old city to form the present municipality. The 1850 Census of householders in the twenty-seven different political subdivisions of the county are scattered through seven volumes now deposited in the National Archives at Washington. As any searcher knows, it is a thankless and time-consuming task to locate a specific family or person in those volumes from the microfilm copies available. The Genealogical Society is pleased to announce that Project 1850, the indexing of the 1850 Census of Philadelphia County, has now been initiated with the help of volunteer workers. No date of completion has been set, nor has its final form been as yet determined. It will, however, list all heads of households, and the eldest of persons within each household whose surname differs from that of the head of the household in which they reside. Names are being transcribed from Xerox copies of the microfilm made by the National Archives. Because unlimited funds for the purchase of these Xerox copies are not available, the smaller subdivisions are being indexed first in the hope funds to purchase the more extensive lists will be forthcoming. Contributions for that purpose are tax deductible. The Society would also like to have an expression of interest in this Project from its members and the readers of this Magazine as an aid in determining the Project's final form. 191