Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Messing With the Census Taker?

Crosen Family, Gainsboro, VA, 1930 Census
Meet the Crosen (Croser?) family: dad Utah, mom Rhode Island, and the kids: Vermont, Virginia, Minnesota, Georgia, Maryland, Florida, Montana, Kansas, and Tennessee.

I do not doubt that a couple would name their nine children after states. The census is full of people named after states. I was, however, skeptical about the chances of a man named Utah and a woman named Rhode Island finding one another. Stranger things have happened, but I wondered whether this family might have been having some fun with the census taker.

Then, I found them in the 1920 Census, too. If it was a joke, it was a long-running and well-maintained gag.
Crosen Family, Gainsboro, VA, 1920 Census
A final question: how does one decide that Montana is a masculine name, while Tennessee is feminine?

1 comment:

Heather Wilkinson Rojo said...

And what about Samuel Draper who died in Boston in 1767, and named his four sons: Newburyport, New York, Boston and James. ("Drapers in America" published 1892) Samuel was obviously a captain of a ship.