Black Population in Windsor 1861, 1864

In the Canada Census of 1861 as well as the Special City of Windsor Census taken in 1864, one of the columns completed by the enumerator was column 13 entitled “Coloured Persons, Mulatto or Indian“.  As found on Library and Archives Canada, the instructions given to the enumerator was “In this column mark a figure (1) every coloured person,s name, i.e. negro or negress. This was much neglected last census, and the number of coloured persons was not ascertained. If Mulatto, mark M after his or her name – thus, (1) M; and if Indian, mark “Ind”.

Those marked with a (1) or (1)M have been extracted from both the 1861 and the 1864 censuses of Windsor and included in this table.  Please note that the names might be slightly altered from one census to another.  Also, there may be people only mentioned in one of the censuses.  The advantage of the 1864 census was that the enumerator did not just enter a place of birth as US as was done on the 1861 census.  Instead the enumerator listed the state where the person was born.

The Essex Branch researcher is currently completing family histories for these entries.  When this is completed, it will be housed in the Members Library.  Completion is not expected until 2023.  In additiion, it is expected that similar tables will soon be included for other Towns and Townships.