1890 FEDERAL CENSUS HOOD COUNTY, TEXAS

Researched by Virginia Hale (Remnant)

The documentation of only one household within Hood County survived the fire that destroyed most of the 1890 Federal Census.

What Happened to the 1890 Federal Census?
from Genealogy Today – April 1998


Many genealogy researchers have become frustrated once they began searching for the 1890 US Federal Census. Soon, the researchers learn the 1890 Schedules were destroyed by a fire in the National Archives in 1921.

January 10, 1921, in the afternoon, the building fireman reported seeing smoke in the basement of the Commerce Building where the schedules were located and the fire department was called. They contained the fire to the basement level but flooded most of the area. These records were allowed to remain soaking in the water overnight and the next day the damage was assessed. The schedules were located in a basement vault that was considered to be fireproof and waterproof. Upon assessment they found a small broken pane of glass which had allowed the water to seep in and damaged some of the schedules that were located in the low shelves. Those schedules were opened and dried and recopied. However, the 1890 schedule was located outside the vault and it was determined that the 1890 records were ruined and that no method of restoration would restore them.

A cause of that 1921 fire was never determined, although there was some speculation that a worker was smoking and that started the blaze or the stacks of paper spontaneously combusted.

In 1932 a list of papers to be destroyed was sent to the Librarian of Congress which included the original 1890 schedules that still remained. Congress authorized the destruction of the papers listed and in 1934 those remaining schedules were destroyed by the Department of Commerce.

However, some of the original schedules still exist. In 1942 a bundle of the 1890 Illinois schedules was discovered during a move. In 1953 more fragments from a few states were discovered. These few 1890 censuses have all been filmed and are available through your local library, state archive, and Family History Centers.

Supervisor’s District No. 6
Enumeration District No. 95
Precinct No. 5
Enumerated the 3rd day of June, 1890 by William Smith
William Locklin
Head of Household, White, Male, Age 37, Married, Born in Indiana, Farmer, Able to read and write, Home is “hired” (rented), Farm land is not owned, Owner of farm land is C.L. Edwards of Granbury
Alice I. Locklin
Wife, White, Female, Age 27, Married, Born in Missouri, Parents born in Missouri, Able to read and write
Silvia Locklin
Daughter, White, Female, Age 8, Single, Born in Texas, Father born in Indiana, Mother born in Missouri, Not able to read or write
Dora E. Lockley [should be Locklin]
Daughter, White, Female, Age 6, Single, Born in Texas, Father born in Indiana, Mother born in Missouri, Not able to read or write
Luther C. Lockley [should be Locklin]
Son, White, Male, Age 3, Single, Born in Texas, Father born in Indiana, Mother born in Missouri, Not able to read or write
William Lockley [should be Locklin]
Father, White, Male, Age 73, Widower, Born in New York, Farm Laborer, Not able to read or write
George W. Lockley [should be Locklin]
Brother, White, Male, Age 16, Single, Born in Arkansas, Farm Laborer, Not able to read or write

William Locklin was born in 1857. Alice I. Coatney Locklin was born July 31, 1862. They were married on December 4, 1881 in Hood County, Texas.

Alice’s parents were Robert Coatney and Sarah A. Wilson Coatney. The father died in 1864. Alice’s mother, Sarah A. Wilson Coatney, again married on April 7, 1867 to Caleb H. Huffstutler, a Civil War veteran. Hood County’s 1870 Federal Census listed Alice, at age 8, as Alise Hufstuttle. In the 1880 Federal Census for Hood County, Alice, age 17, was enumerated as Alice Huffstetler.

William and Alice I. Coatney [Huffstutler] Locklin had two more children:

Alta Mae Locklin - Born May 5, 1888 in Texas. This child was not indicated in the 1890 Federal Census. Alice married Dan Addison in 1902.

Walter Locklin - Born 1891.

Alice I. Coatney [Huffstutler] Locklin (1862-1897), Dora E. Locklin (1883-1917), who was killed by lightening, and Alta Mae Locklin Addison (1888-1966) were buried in the Allison Cemetery in Hood County, Texas.