Mayfield Families Listed in the 1790 Federal
Census for South Carolina
By Phil Norfleet
Congress originally authorized the establishment of a Federal
Census to enumerate the United States population and, thus, determine each
state's representation in the House of Representatives. The first Federal
Census, in 1790, went only slightly beyond that scope to distinguish between
males 16 and over, males under 16, all females, other free persons, and all
slaves.
Extant Reports
Several of the 1790 schedules have been lost over the years,
most of them during the War of 1812, when the British burned Washington DC.
However, eleven (11) of the State reports are extant; all have been published
and indexed as follows:
1. Connecticut
2. Maine (although Maine was then
still part of Massachusetts)
3. Maryland (except Allegany,
Calvert, and Somerset counties)
4. Massachusetts
5. New Hampshire
6. New York
7. North Carolina (except Caswell,
Granville, and Orange counties; and all of what is now Tennessee)
8. Pennsylvania
9. Rhode Island
10. South Carolina
11. Vermont
With respect to Mayfield genealogy, the most serious losses are
the reports for Tennessee (then a part of North Carolina), Virginia (which then
included all of Kentucky) and Georgia. Some attempts have been made to
produce substitutes for these missing census reports by using tax lists.
Such attempts are better than nothing, but do leave much to be desired.
Incidentally, the published substitute reports for both Virginia and Georgia do
not show any Mayfield families in those states. I'm not sure about
Georgia, but I do know that there were several Mayfields living in Virginia,
Kentucky and Tennessee in 1790.
Census Day
The Congressional legislation, that established the Federal
Census requirement, designated one specific day as "census day." The information
given to the census taker was to be correct as of that day; It should be
noted that this day was not necessarily the day that the enumeration was
actually recorded at each house. Persons who died after "census day" were
to be included because they were alive on census day. Children born after
census day were to be omitted from the census reports. These instructions
were not always followed to the letter, but we must be aware of them and
evaluate the census information as if they were followed. One should not assume
that an entry contains errors or omissions before we have studied it and
compared it with data from other sources. However, it is useful to note the date
of the actual enumeration when it is given at the top of the page. It does show
each family as residents of a given place on that day and may help in the
interpretation of the information furnished in the report. The "census
day" for the 1790 enumeration was the first Monday in August 1790.
Identities of the Mayfield Families
Based on my review of the extant 1790 reports, it
appears that most of the Mayfield families in the United States were then living
in South Carolina. The table shown below presents some of my opinions as to
the identity of the 25 Mayfield families shown in the published Federal
Census (1790) for the State of South Carolina.
The page number on which
each family appeared is included in the table. For most states and
counties enumerated, the reports reflect the same order of names as were in the
original reports produced by the individual census takers. Accordingly,
household names that are close to each other in the reports, probably were also
living in fairly close geographical proximity as well.
County |
Page # |
Name |
WM's =>16 |
WM's <16 |
WF's |
Remarks |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1. Chester |
14 |
Abraham Mayfield |
1 |
1 |
2 |
This Abraham (ca. 1761-1840) is probably the
son of Jonathan
Mayfield (d. 1818). |
2. Chester |
14 |
Allen Mayfield |
1 |
3 |
1 |
Allen (ca. 1765-1819) is the
son of Jonathan Mayfield (d. 1818). |
3. Chester |
14 |
Edmond Mayfield |
1 |
3 |
2 |
Edmond (ca. 1763-1832) is
the son of Robert Mayfield (d. 1816). |
4. Chester |
14 |
Elisha Mayfield |
1 |
0 |
3 |
Elisha (ca. 1765-1811) is probably the son of
Robert Mayfield (d. 1816). |
5. Chester |
14 |
Jonathan Mayfield |
2 |
0 |
1 |
Jonathan is probably the brother of Robert
Mayfield (d. 1816). The 2nd male, age 16 and over, is probably John
Mayfield, son of Jonathan. Final division of Jonathan's estate, in
Fairfield District in 1824, indicates that he had 6 heirs: Abraham, Allen,
John, Priscilla Atterberry, Elizabeth McDaniel, and Mary Roden (wife of
William Roden). |
6. Chester |
14 |
Obediah Mayfield |
1 |
0 |
2 |
Obediah (1769-1849) is probably the son of Robert
Mayfield (d. 1816). |
7. Chester |
14 |
Robert Mayfield |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Robert (d. 1816) is the father of
Edmond and Elisha cited above; the 1 person in his household under age 16 is
probably Ezekiel AKA Sugar Mayfield. Final division of Robert's estate, in
Chester District in 1818, indicates that he had 8 heirs, 4 of whom were
listed by name: Abraham, Edmond, Samuel, and Sugar. |
8. Chester |
14 |
Stephen Mayfield |
1 |
1 |
3 |
Stephen (ca. 1758-1846) is probably the son
of Robert Mayfield (d. 1816); the 1 male under age 16 is probably Stephen's
son, Luke
Mayfield (1777-1853). |
9. Fairfield |
21 |
Samuel Mayfield |
1 |
0 |
5 |
Samuel (1759-1837), a Revolutionary War
Veteran, is the
son of Robert Mayfield (d. 1816). |
10. Greenville |
68 |
Isaac Mayfield |
4 |
4 |
5 |
Isaac (1742-1822) is probably the brother of
Micajah Mayfield (d. 1798), Jesse (d. 1833), and Randolph Mayfield (d. ca.
1825). |
11. Greenville |
68 |
Jesse Mayfield |
1 |
3 |
2 |
Jesse (d. 1833) is probably the brother of
Micajah Mayfield (d. 1798), Isaac (1742-1822), and Randolph Mayfield (d. ca.
1825). He remained in SC until his removal to McMinn County TN in about
1820. |
12. Greenville |
68 |
John Mayfield |
3 |
0 |
2 |
John is probably another brother of Isaac
(1742-1822), Micajah (d. 1798) and Randolph (d. ca. 1825). His
subsequent fate is unknown; he apparently did not remove to KY like his
brothers. |
13. Greenville |
68 |
Micajah Mayfield |
2 |
4 |
3 |
Micajah (d. 1798) is probably another brother
of Isaac (1742-1822), Jesse (d. 1833) and Randolph (d. ca. 1825). |
14. Greenville |
68 |
Randolph Mayfield |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Randolph is probably the brother of Micajah
(d. 1798), Jesse (d. 1833), and Isaac Mayfield (1742-1822). |
15. Greenville |
69 |
Thomas Mayfield |
2 |
0 |
3 |
Thomas (d. 1803) is probably the father of
Abraham (1763-1850) and John Mayfield (ca. 1773-1852). The 2nd male
over age 16 is probably Thomas's son, John Mayfield. |
16. Greenville |
70 |
Abraham Mayfield |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Abraham (1763-1850) is probably the son of
Thomas Mayfield (d. 1803). This Abraham applied for a Revolutionary
War Pension in 1833. |
17. Pendleton |
82 |
Elijah Mayfield |
1 |
0 |
6 |
Elijah (1762-1843) is a son of James Mayfield
(d. 1780); he applied for a Revolutionary War Pension in 1834. |
18. Pendleton |
82 |
Isham Mayfield |
1 |
0 |
2 |
Isham is a brother of Stephen Mayfield (d.
1834). |
19. Pendleton |
82 |
John Mayfield |
1 |
0 |
1 |
Identity of this John Mayfield is unknown to
me. However, he is probably closely related to Ambrose and to the other Mayfields
living in Pendleton at this time. |
20. Pendleton |
82 |
Ambrose Mayfield |
1 |
5 |
5 |
Identity of this Ambrose Mayfield is unknown
to me. However, he is probably a brother of John Mayfield, whose land
was adjacent to that of Ambrose. |
21. Pendleton |
82 |
Stephen Mayfield |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Stephen (d. 1834) is a brother of Isham
Mayfield. He is almost certainly the man who died in Overton County TN
in 1834. |
22. Pendleton |
82 |
John Mayfield |
4 |
5 |
2 |
Identity of this John Mayfield is unknown to
me. However, he is probably closely related to the other Mayfields in
Pendleton. |
23. Union |
91 |
Mary Mayfield |
2 |
2 |
2 |
Mary is the widow of John Mayfield the Tory
(d. 1781) of Browns Creek. The four males, as shown in the census, are her
sons:
William and John Mayfield (age 16 and over); plus Richard and Battle
Mayfield (both under age 16). |
24. Union |
93 |
William Mayfield |
1 |
1 |
2 |
William is probably a relative of the
Greenville County Mayfields (Isaac, Micajah, etc.); he lived near the
residence of Daniel Brumit in the northern part of Union County. |
25. York |
29 |
Abraham Mayfield |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Identity of this Abraham Mayfield is not
known to me. |
|