I would like to know the location of the following family.Thomas
Williams and his wife Martha. Their son Edwin Williams was born in
1828 and their daughter Mira Williams born in 1822.I have found both
parents listed in the 1830 census in the Township of Charleston in
Chester County Pa. Your help would be apprciated. Thank You.

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Request for Question Clarification by eponine-ga on 15 Nov 2003 22:30 PST

When you say "location" when do you mean? Censuses after 1840? Or
something else entirely?

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Clarification of Question by kelsy-ga on 19 Nov 2003 07:46 PST

By location I mean that in the 1830 census both Thomas and Martha
Williams appear appear to live in Chester County at that time. I need
to know if these two individuals wre married to each other, and
secondly if they had two children by the names of Edwin and Mira. I
hope this helps,,,Thanks!

Kelsy --

There are some fruitful places to look for Thomas and Martha, though
they are in fee-based databases at Ancestry.com.  Vitalrec.com has
several Pennsylvania marriage databases linked, including Lutheran
marriages and pre-1810 marriages:
http://www.vitalrec.com/pa.html#County

The same site also has the link to the Chester County courthouse,
which is where the original records could be stored.  You may have to
contact the courthouse.

Good luck with the search.  I know just how frustrating it can be, as
my own GG grandparents were born in western Pennsylvania at about that
time but can't be traced.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

Kelsy --

I may be able to save you a little time & money.  My library has
access to the following three databases:
*  Record of Pennsylvania Marriages Prior to 1810
*  Pennsylvania Methodist Church Records, 1908
*  Pennsylvania Lutheran Baptisms & Marriages

The only Thomas & Martha Williams who show up in any of the three
databases were married in Christ Church, Philadelphia, June 11, 1711.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

Some ideas that might or might not help.

The problem with the census before 1850 was that the only names listed
are head of household. So it's likely that Thomas Williams and Mira
Williams were not husband and wife, if they are each listed in an
index for the 1830 census (because each named person is the head of
their own household).

The listing format for 1830 would look something like: Thomas
Williams, household consists of: males under age 5: 1, males age
25-30: 1, females under age 6-10: 1, females age 25-30: 1. That would
correspond to Thomas, a wife, young Edwin and young Mira.

1850 is the earliest census where every person was listed. It might be
easier to locate Edwin or Mira on the 1850 census, if you know a
location. Edwin, at age approx. 22 might still live with his parents.
Similarly, "cluster genealogy" might work: their parents might live
nearby, or show up in later years as an older person in their
household.

You might also want to investigate the other records of Chester
County, PA. Rootweb offers links to some resources here:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~pacheste/ , including church records, which
are a good source of vital records (births, deaths, etc.) in the early
1800s.