Census Sunday: Using the census to track Apolina Morrill

Apolina Morrill is my husband’s great grandmother. I only recently discovered her maiden name. I found it on a death certificate of one of her other children. One of my goals this year then is to find and confirm her parents. 

Apolina was the wife of Charles Coursault and they lived in Philadelphia. They had eight children, including hubby’s grandmother, Julia. I was not able to find Apolina’s maiden name thru Charles or Julia so I proceeded to check out Julia’s siblings. Julia (1885-1945) was the oldest. Her siblings were: Catherine (1886-1960), Leopold (b. 1890), Francis Prosper (1892-1946), Marie (b. 1894), Anna (b. 1899), and Helen (1901-1930). I have not found the eighth child yet. It was on Francis’ death certificate that I found it. The informant was a Mrs. Bonner and that would be his sister Catherine. Catherine would have been the oldest of the surviving siblings since Julia had passed the year prior.  

1920 Census

Apolina was living on Frankford Avenue in Philadelphia in 1920. She is listed as the head of the household. Living with her is her son Francis, her daughter in law Esther, her step grandson Elmer, and daughters Julia and Helen. Apolina states her year of immigration as 1871. She was naturalized in 1880. She and her parents were born in England.

1910 Census

The 1910 Census lists a widowed Apolina. She notes she had eight children and that all eight are still living. She and her parents were born in England. Seven of her children and one grandchild are living with her. The year of immigration is a bit sloppy. She states the year of her immigration was 1870. They live on Brown Street in Philadelphia. 

1900 Census

The 1900 Census reveals that her and Charles had been married for 17 years. This puts their marriage year as 1883, give or take a year. The census states she had seven children and all were still living. Helen was not born until 1901 so she would not have been included in this census. Apolina was born in England, as was her parents. She immigrated in 1880, which means she had been in the States for 20 years. She was not naturalized. Charles was a fruit huckster but she did not work out of the house.

1890 Census

Unfortunately the 1890 census is not available. If it were though, she would appear with her husband Charles. They would have been married seven years.  

1880 Census

Seventeen year old Apolina Morrill – remember I discovered her maiden name from her son’s death certificate – appears with her parents and siblings. Her father Issac is 48. Her mother Mary is 46. Also living at home is 13 year old Emma, 11 year old Bella, nine year old John, and three year old Mary. Everyone, except Mary, was born in England. Mary was born in Pennsylvania. The family lived on Market Street in Philadelphia. Issac was a galvanizer; Apolina was a button maker. 

Since the Morrill family immigrated in 1871, I will not obviously be able to utilize US census records anymore. 

1868 & 1857

I did find, but cannot confirm without more information, an Issac Morrill in 1857 and again in 1868 in the Township of Beeston in the County of Hereford in the UK. I found the listing in the UK, Poll Books and Electoral Registers, 1538-1893 on Ancestry.com. 

1841 UK Census

The 1880 US Census revealed that Issac was born 1831, give or take a year. A 10 year old Issac Morrill appears on the 1841 England Census. The son of George and Mary Morrill, this Issac (still not 100% he is in fact Apolina’s father) was born in Warwickshire, England.  George and Mary are both 45. He is a basket maker. Their children are: Ann, 20; George, 15; Sarah, 15; Nick, 12; and Issac, 10. They lived in St Nicholas Parish in Warwickshire County. 

Before going further I would like to confirm information such as exactly where in England the family came from, what happened to Issac and Mary here in the States, when were they married, and so on. And so … for today this ends my Census Sunday!

 

 

Census Sunday is a genealogical prompt of GeneaBloggers. 

© Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman