Part 8, Note 3
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Ninth Census of the United States (1870) Colorado
County, Texas, Schedule 1; Mike Kingston, ed., 1994-1995 Texas Almanac and
State Industrial Guide (Dallas: The Dallas Morning News, 1993), p. 331; S.
T. Burney to Edmund J. Davis, June 22, 1870, Edmund J. Davis Records (RG 301)
Archives Division, Texas State Library; Colorado County Bond and Mortgage
Records, Book G, pp. 232, 233; Contract with Freedmen, James H. Wooten
Collection (Ms. 14), Archives of the Nesbitt Memorial Library, Columbus. The 1870 census
listed 978 white persons and 688 black persons who owned either real estate or
other property. These white persons owned real estate totaling $1,649,035 and
personal property totaling $608,657; the black persons $9,960 and $10,479. Of
these persons, 873 whites and 678 blacks were identified as heads of households.
The 873 whites owned $1,474,295 in real estate and $560,806 in other property;
the 678 blacks $9,310 in real estate and $9,849 in other property. Of the black
heads of household, 572 listed no assets at all.
From 1860 until 1870, Colorado County's population grew by
5.6%. This must be considered as very slight when measured against the state's
overall population growth of 35.5%. Colorado County's growth outpaced only one
of its immediate neighbors, Wharton County, which grew by only 1.4% in the
decade. In the same time span, Fayette County grew by 43.8%, Austin County by
48.8%, and Lavaca County by 54.2%. It should be noted, however, that local
genealogical researchers hold the 1870 census of Colorado County in low regard,
noting that many persons who are believed to have been living in the county
before, during, and after 1870 are missing from its pages (for state population
figures, see Mike Kingston, ed., 1986-1987 Texas Almanac and State Industrial
Guide (Dallas: The Dallas Morning News, 1985), p. 443).