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Some observations from Hancock County census reports - 1820-50
1820 census totals 1,594 persons, of which 1168 were white and 452 were slaves or "free coloreds."
By 1830, there was only a small growth, to 1,961, including slaves .
The big increase came in the 1840 census, apparently to 3,367 (another figure, 3210 provides some confusion). Assuming the larger number to be correct, it seems that 2,239 were shite, 74 were free coloreds, and 1054 were slaves.
The 1850 census does not provide a grand total, but it would appear that there were 2,478 white. No calculation was made for slaves.
In 1840, males outnumbered females 1,250 to 989.
While the 1850 report does not indicate much growth, it contains much valuable information. For the first time, it adds place of birth to the questions. Thus, it can be noted that respondents represented 15 countries and 18 states. Countries include all of central Europe and the British Isles, plus Russia, Greece, Denmark and Holland.
It appears that most settlers came from the Carolinas and Virginia, others were from Vermont, Delaware, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey. (This may tie into Betty Fagan Burr's report "The Mississippi Territory" which states that some of the settlers from Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia were Tories who had fled their homes during or after the Revolution.)
It is also apparent that some settlers came to Hancock County only after spending some time between their places of origins and their destination. Migration was not always direct to Hancock County; some who came from the Carolinas, for example, had children in Alabama or Georgia, before settling in Hancock County.