1850 Alcona County Census

Description

This is a transcription by Bob and Don Ferrett of the 1850 Federal census for the approximate area covered by today’s Alcona County , Michigan . Alcona County was not enumerated as a separate entity; in fact, it was included as part of Michilimackinac County . Michilimackinac County covered a large portion of the northern Lower Peninsula , and the Upper Peninsula . Most of the county census returns in Michigan were completed in a week. It took Mr. Cook from July 22, 1850 until October 30, 1850 to complete his task—more than three months! There were not many people in this huge county—approximately 3,700. Most of these were involved in the fishing industry or were soldiers stationed at the Straits of Mackinac and at Sault Ste. Marie. There were a few people involved in lumbering, but most of those were cutting lumber for local use, or for use as barrel staves in support of the fishing industry. Very little lumber was being exported from the region.

Identifying which of the 3,700 residents of the county lived in what is now Alcona County was a difficult task. It was accomplished by looking at all of the histories of the area, including the 1884 History of the Lake Huron Shore. All of the existing issues of the 19th century Alcona County Review were also read. A list of names of people who claimed to have lived in the area by 1850 was created, and then matched against the people found in the 1850 Federal Census returns for Mackinac County . One group of residents, starting on page 16 and ending on page 22, contained about 20 of the people identified as being in the area at the time of the census. There were no matches in the rest of the 90 pages of the census. It is possible that a few of the people on either end of the census were in an Alpena County fishing camp at Thunder Bay Island or Devil River (Ossineke), but it is more likely that they were all in camps at what are now Greenbush, Springport, and Alcona.

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