Johnson County Kentucky was established in 1843. Before Johnson County became Johnson County it's people resided in Floyd County, Lawrence County and Morgan County. One day it's citizens were in their own county then over night they were citizens of Johnson County Kentucky. What we think of as our ancestors moving all around was sometimes the results of the boundaries changing around them.
The 1840 census of Floyd, Lawrence & Morgan County Kentucky is where we will find a lot of our Johnson County people.
The 1840 census was the 6th census of the United States. The data collected by the census takers were not as detailed as later census records. They listed "Head of Household" and then a numerical enumeration of all other people in the household by age and sex.
Some of the census takers alphabetized their records before turning them in, but some records were left in the original order the census taker visited each households. The ones in original order are very useful to determine who a persons neighbors were. If you see three Brown families listed side by side, you can reasonable assume they are somehow related.
The census was as of 1 June 1840, meaning all data collected (even if done months after that date) was supposed to reflect the families condition on that date.
The 1840 census is quite wide and consisted of two pages. The first page contained the name and the age for the white families and the free colored people (FCP). The second page contained slaves and other data. Some of the other data is Revolutionary War Pensioners and their ages.
The columns for the free white males and females consisted of 13 columns for the male and 13 columns for the female. The age breakdowns for each column were the same for both the males and females. I have shortened the width of the page by listing the female statistics under the male statistics. This makes it easier to compare members in each household.
1840 Census Columns
2. Free White Under 5 (i.e. age 0-4 or born 1835/1840)
3. Free White 5 and under 10 (i.e. age 5-9 or born 1830/1835)
4. Free White 10 and under 15 (i.e. age 10-14, or born 1825/1830)
5. Free White 15 and under 20 (i.e. age 15-19 or born 1820/1825)
6. Free White 20 and under 30 (i.e. age 20-29 or born 1810/1820)
7. Free White 30 and under 40 (i.e. age 30-39 or born 1800/1810)
8. Free White 40 and under 50 (i.e. age 40-49 or born 1790/1800)
9. Free White 50 and under 60 (i.e. age 50-59 or born 1780/1790)
10. Free White 60 and under 70 (i.e. age 60-69 or born 1770/1780)
11. Free White 70 and under 80 (i.e. age 70-79 or born 1760/1770)
12. Free White 80 and under 90 (i.e. age 80-89 or born 1750/1760)
The 1840 census also had columns for: 90 and under 100 & 100 and upwards
For the sake of making the records fit the screen I have not put in columns for these two age brackets. But a notation is made when a member in the household fits these two categories. When you see an "*" information is listed after the pages in that section.
THE HOUSEHOLD in 1850
When found, after each head of household is listed where each household is in the 1850 Census. This information was taken from printed census records and other indexes that were available. This is not proof that these are the same households, but fit the breakdown of the ages and the age group of the head of household. These are clues only and give you possible places to look next.
The information is listed in the following order:
County-household or page- #
Example: FL HH #345 1850 Floyd County Kentucky Household #345
Example CA PG #123 1850 Carter County Kentucky Page #123
County Abbreviations
BE= Breathitt County
CA= Carter County
FL= Floyd County
GN = Greenup County
JO= Johnson County
LA= Lawrence County
LE= Letcher County
MO= Morgan County
PE= Perry County
PI= Pike County
When you come across a large grouping of Johnson County Households in the 1850 census this gives a clue which part of the county was taken for Johnson County.