Annotated Bullitt County 1850 Census

We continue the Bullitt County 1850 census written by Mrs. W. V. Mathis, Wallace A. McKay and W. C. Barrickman. Betty Darnell shared this in The Pioneer News on 2 Sep 1991.

These records have been briefly compared to images of the census pages, and occasional additions or corrections have been made. Those changes we consider significant are noted with red print. Also, the census dwelling house number and family number according to visitation has been added, like this: [1/1].

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3 March 1950

Born in Maryland in 1751, an American soldier in the Revolution, Archibald MAGRUDER, son of John and Jane MAGRUDER of Montgomery County, Maryland, came to Nelson County, Kentucky, before 1787. His wife was Cassandra OFFUTT, daughter of Samuel OFFUTT and Elizabeth BURGESS of Maryland. When Bullitt County was established in part from Nelson, Archibald's home was included in the new county. Today it is part of the Bernheim Game Reserve, near Clermont. Archibald died in 1842; his wife in 1835. Archibald's will probated in Bullitt County names his children: Eleanor, Ezekiel, Ursula, Levin, Cassandra, Caroline, Archibald Jr.

Levin or Levi MAGRUDER was a member of the Masonic fraternity but his three wives were all Catholics. His father-in-law, Joseph AUD, then of Nelson County, in 1811 bought of Henry CRIST and his wife Rachel 304 acres in Bullitt County on Rock Run creek; in 1814 Joseph AUD conveyed 10 acres of this land, known as "Assumption Hill" to Joseph FLAGET, Bishop of Bardstown. On this site St. John's Chapel, sometimes called Bullitt Chapel, was built with a cemetery adjoining. When Joseph died in 1815, he was buried in the Chapel Cemetery, and when his daughter Elizabeth, Levi MAGRUDER's wife, died in 1839, she too was buried there.

When Levi expressed his wish to have a grave reserved for him next to that of his wife, he was told that since he was not a Catholic the rules of the church would not permit it. Thereupon he decided to have a cemetery of his own and since he owned the land surrounding the chapel and cemetery, he had built a hand-wrought iron fence around a small plot of ground adjoining the stone wall of the Chapel cemetery, and here his body was buried in 1868.

Census record:

[627/627] Ezekiel MAGRUDER (son of Archibald and Cassandra) 59 farmer (married 1816), Nancy (MILLER) 52, Cassandra 22 (she married 1854, John I. HILL), John 20, Benjamin F. 18 (married 1856, Catherine, daughter of Dr. James A. HILL), Louisa 15 (married 1860, William S. B. HILL), Henry 7. (Other children not named in census: Elizabeth, married 1839, Hudson C. LAWSON; Verlinda, married 1846, Francis W. MARAMAN, son of Charles; Amy, married 1848 John L. MASDEN.)

[628/628] William M. MAGRUDER (son of Ezekiel) 33 farmer, Elizabeth (SAMUELS) 26, Mary 3, James 3, Ezekiel 8 months.

[834/834] Arch MAGRUDER (son of Ezekiel) 26 farmer, Kitty 26 (Catherine CUSHMAN, daughter of Ephraim and Nancy).

[667/667] A. F. Ferdinand MAGRUDER (son of Levi and Elizabeth) 28 school teacher (married 1850), Angeline 23 (daughter of John H. and Deliah WATSON DOWNS).

[668/668] Levi MAGRUDER (son of Archibald and Cassandra) 54 farmer, Catherine (STRANEY, 2nd wife) 36, William 23, Mary 19, Joseph T. 16, Verlinda C. 15, Francis W. 11 (children of Levi's first wife, Elizabeth AUD); George R. 6 (one of Gen. MORGAN's "Raiders" in the Civil War, probably killed in action), Viana 4, David A. and Ezekiel, twins, 2; Eliza J. SIMMONS 16 (married Dennis DENT), Mary SIMMONS 12 (married a BARTLETT; daughter of Catherine by her second husband); Elizabeth BROWN 10.

[724/724] Robert M. LEE farmer (son of Harry and Nancy NORRIS LEE), Elizabeth (CASWELL) 40, Elizabeth E. 18, Malinda A. 17, David L. 16, James M. 14, John L.12, William 10, Rodolphus 8. Household also shown on another page.

[726/726] George KNIGHT 52 farmer, Sarah 18, America 15.

[727/727] Elisha SIMMONS 66 farmer, Rhoda (CRENSHAW) 50 (married 1828, died 1859), Lewis 21, Andres J. 17 (died 1895), William 16.

[728/728] Verlinda (SWEARINGEN) MAGRUDER (widow of Arch MAGRUDER Jr.) 43, George 22 (married 1850), Julia (COMBES) 18, Mary E. 13, Samuel F. 10, Henry 8, Ezekiel 6, Francis 3.

[729/729] Walter B. M. BROOKS 26 farmer (married 1847), Nancy Jane 23 (daughter of James C. PENDLETON), Coleman P. 2, Mary 3 months.

[730/730] B. B. (Bland) SMITH 35 laborer (married 1837), Sarah (BASS) 32, John 6, Mary 8; Rachel WELLS 80 (free negro).

[718/718] Humphrey SIMMONS 25 farmer, Elizabeth (HAMILTON) 23 (daughter of Mrs. Nancy DAILEY), John T. 4, Catherine 2, Rumina 1 month.

[721/721] John ANDERSON 59 farmer (married 1824 Ruanna HORNBECK, dead in 1850), Samuel H. 25, John P. 22, James H. 21, Anne E. 15, Susan 13; Benjamin C. KUHN 45 laborer; John HORNBECK 70 (father of Ruanna).

[822/822] Matilda JABERY 36, Mary 5.

[823/823] Sarah BROOKS 35, Margaret 13.

[824/824] Reuben DAVISON 67 miller; Trissa 67, Charlotte BRYANT 26; Mary E. DAVISON 5.

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This project is presented here with the kind permission of Betty Darnell, and The Pioneer News.

If you, the reader, have an interest in any particular part of our county history, and wish to contribute to this effort, use the form on our Contact Us page to send us your comments about this, or any Bullitt County History page. We welcome your comments and suggestions. If you feel that we have misspoken at any point, please feel free to point this out to us.