Map of Tompkins County’s Demographics:

1870-1820

Each geotag represents one a municipality and is scaled in size to reflect that municipality’s black population. Scaling these geotags allows users to see the size of a municipality’s black pollution relative to its neighboring municipality.

How to use: If you click on a geotag, a window will open, listing, 1) the municipality’s name, and 2) a variety of information on each municipality’s demographics. Users may switch between census years by using the box in the upper left of the map.

A few things to note: The City of Ithaca was not a distinct municipality until the 1880s so the residents of this area are included in the town of Ithaca. Hector was ceded to Schuyler County in 1854, therefore, it is not included in the 1860 & 1870 maps. The towns of Enfield & Ithaca were not distinct municipalities until 1821. For this reason, neither town has data present for 1820.

Residents Maps:

1870-1850

Each of the following three maps displays the approximate location where black residents lived in Tompkins County between 1850 & 1870.

How to use: When clicked, each geotag displays information on a person of color present at that location (often the head of house or the only person of color living with a white family). Each geotag also provides a list of others present during that census year.

For more information on the any of the individuals included in these maps, please see the full census lists on the page titled Census.

Residents in 1870

Residents in 1860

Residents in 1850

The Map Making Process

(step by step)

1. Several 19th-century maps were sourced to identify family locations within each of Tompkins County’s municipalities. In addition, these maps were useful in identifying how the various municipalities changed over time (e.g., the loss of Hector to Schuyler County in 1854). The most significant maps for this project were the 1829 Burr map of Tompkins County, the 1853 Smith & Fagan county map which listed residents by name, and the 1866 Topographical Atlas of the county by Stone & Stewart (sourced from William Hecht), and the 1893 Crandall map of Ithaca (provided by Eve Snyder, HistoryForge project coordinator at the History Center of Tompkins County).

2. Ancestry.com was used to source the federal census data on the county between 1820 & 1870. A series of census lists were created that include all of the county’s black residents and any white families they might have been living with. These census lists are available on the Census page.

3. Determining the location of anyone listed on the 1820 – 1840 federal census records was beyond the scope of this project because few pre-1853 maps identify where families lived. With that said, data from 1820 – 1840 is still meaningful and should be rendered. To do this, Carto, an online mapping program, was used to allow users to visually see each municipality’s demographics. In particular, the demographic map’s geotags are scaled according to the black population, allowing viewers to see where the majority of black residents lived. In the end, this map included demographic data ranging from 1820 – 1870.

4. The 1853 Smith & Fagan map of Tompkins County was chosen because of its clarity to help locate where families lived in 1850 & 1860. This map was accessed via the Library of Congress’s online database. Note: Not all of the families listed on the federal census records could be located on the 1853 Smith & Fagan map. I suspect that those included on this map met specific criteria that are presently unclear (e.g., a minimum real estate value, were prominent or longtime residents).

5. Adobe Illustrator was used to initially identify and plot color-coded dots (red for 1850 and blue for 1860) on the 1853 Smith & Fagan map (these initial maps are not included in this site). To do this, however, I first needed to identify each resident. This was a tricky process at times which resulted in it taking two forms:

   1. The first was used when the exact name was found on the map. When a name or family was located a dot was placed over it. Example: This method was used to locate Peter Webb and his family’s home.

   2. The second approach was used when the exact name could not be found. To find the approximate location where a family lived, I needed to locate the names of at least two neighbors (one listed before and the other after the person I was searching for) from the same census sheet. This approach works on the assumption that these individuals were neighbors. Based on this assumption, I theorized that the person/s I was looking for would be located between the two I identified on the map (some degree of error is present in this approach and must be acknowledged). Examples: This method was used to locate the families of Charles Brooks, John Campbell, and Peter Lewis in Newfield in 1850.

      *The above-listed methods were used for locating individuals and families from the 1870 federal census on the 1866 Topographical Atlas of the county by Stone and Stewart (sourced from William Hecht).

6. Once the families and/or individuals were located in Illustrator, I then compared their location on the historic maps to where they would be located on Google Maps. Finally, each family/individual’s coordinates were sourced using Google Maps and then added to the census lists.

7. Locating the approximate locations where black residents lived in Ithaca was particularly challenging between 1850 & 1870. To do this, I needed to use a combination of the 1853 Smith & Fagan county map, the 1866 Topographical Atlas of the county by Stone and Stewart, the 1893 Crandall map of Ithaca with street numbers listed, the associated federal census records, and the 1869-70 and 1875-76 Ithaca City Directories. To locate individuals and families, I needed to 1) identify a family or neighbor on the census record, 2) search for them in the directories, 3) use the Crandall maps to identify the historical addresses (Ithaca’s addresses #’s changed in the 1890s), and 4) source their coordinates using Google Maps based on their locations on the Crandall map. Note: This process is not perfect but attempts to locate where people lived with the little information available today. If additional information is found, these geotags will be updated to reflect the new information.

8. Each database was added to Carto (the previously mentioned online mapping program) to visually render each individual and/or family over a modern map of Tompkins County. Carto also created interactive windows that display information on the individual and/or families who were geotagged.

Future Avenue of Research

Below is a brief list of additional data that could be added in the future to enrich these maps. If you have any ideas for future research or wish to participate in this project, please contact us through the Seeking Information page.

• Identify & include Underground Railroad sites within Tompkins County.

• Include additional historical documents (e.g., last will and testaments, indentures, photographs, church records, etc.)

• Include oral histories & conversations with descendants/communities.

• Include agricultural data from the census records to highlight the types of crops people were growing.

• Include other counties in the Finger Lakes and other rural NYS counties.

• Include cemetery and burial ground data.