Census Data Confirms Family Story: 52 Ancestors 2026 Prompt “What the Census Suggests”

Girl’s Disability Confirmed by Census Data

Laura “Leurana” Robertson: 1838-? (Maternal Second Cousin 3x Removed)
 

While researching the children of Aaron Fairfax Smith, my husband’s third-great-granduncle, I found an interesting note on the Findagrave entry for Aaron’s daughter Eudoxia. The entry stated she gave birth to two children, son Aaron Smith Robertson and daughter Laura or Leurana. “Laura was retarded. Her date of death has not been found,” the entry read. I was a bit startled, and not just by the out-of-date terminology for a mental disability. Did the bio writer know about Laura’s disability from other family members, or was there some sort of record to be found? I began to investigate Laura’s life.

Laura was born in 1838 to parents Alney Robertson and Eudoxia Smith Robertson. Other trees list her birth date as June 5, but I have found no birth record to confirm that date. Her brother Aaron Smith Robertson was born a year later on September 22, 1839, and her mother Eudoxia died five days later, probably from some sort of childbirth complications.

It is unclear what happened to the two babies after Eudoxia’s death. I was unable to find any obituary notice for Eudoxia, and I can’t find 1840 census records for her husband Alney. The 1840 census for Eudoxia’s father, Aaron Smith, shows he had two young children in his household, but it is unclear if they were Eudoxia’s babies or his own youngest children.

The 1850 census finds Laura and little Aaron living with their grandparents, Aaron Fairfax and Judith Stum Smith. The census taker erroneously listed them with the surname “Smith” instead of Robertson.

The 1860 census provides some shocking clarification. By then, young Aaron was out of the house; I could not find him on the census. He enlisted in the Union Army in 1861 and died the following year from typhoid before he had a chance to fight in the Civil War. But Laura was listed as a member of her uncle Presley Smith’s household. (See below.)

1860 Census for Aaron Smith family

The 1860, 1870 and 1880 census forms included questions that other censuses did not, and that is where I hit paydirt in regards to the Findagrave claim about Laura. On the 1860 census, there were boxes to check off for a range of disabilities. The categories included: “Blind; Deaf and Dumb; Idiotic; Insane; Maimed, Crippled, Bedridden or Otherwise Disabled.” The box for “Idiotic” was checked off for Laura, along with boxes in the Education area that reported she could neither read nor write.

1860 Disability Checklist for Laura

Laura also appears in her Uncle Presley’s household in 1870. That census featured a question regarding disabilities. It read, “Whether dead and dum, blind, insane or idiotic”. The census taker was required to write down the disability. He wrote “Idiot” for Laura.

1870 Census record for Presley Smith household

Laura listed as "idiot"

Laura appears on the census one more time in 1880. She is 42 years old and still living in Presley Smith’s household. Once again, the census form offers boxes to be checked if the household member has a disability, and once again, Laura is marked down as “Idiotic”.

1880 Census for Presley Smith household

I have been unable to find any additional records for Laura, and I have been unable to locate her grave. I checked all the cemeteries where other Smith and Robertson family members were buried, but could not find her. Perhaps she was buried in an unmarked grave. I could find no newspaper accounts of her death either. I will continue to look.

The census records provided me with important information about Laura that I could not have found elsewhere. In fact, they were the only records that I have found for her. The censuses confirmed that she was disabled, and also showed that her mother’s family stepped up and took care of her, probably for her entire life. Her disability must have been profound, but first her grandparents and then her uncle made sure she had a place to live. I hope she felt loved, safe and secure.

Sources:

1850 United States Census. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8054/records/17408881?tid=81812584&pid=262735890530&ssrc=pt

1860 United States Census. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7667/records/39548628?tid=81812584&pid=262735890530&ssrc=pt

1870 United States Census. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7163/records/18749732?tid=81812584&pid=262735890530&ssrc=pt

1880 United States Census. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6742/records/17797750?tid=81812584&pid=262459902845&hid=1039306957855&_phsrc=UCj3626&_phstart=default&usePUBJs=true

Almost Invisible: 52 Ancestors 2026 Prompt “A Quiet Life”

 

The Brief, Quiet Life of a Young Mother in the Early Nineteenth Century

Eudoxia Smith: 1815-1839 (Maternal First Cousin 4x Removed)

 

The abbreviated life of Eudoxia Smith Robertson was, sadly, an all too common fate for young women in the early 1800s. She led what seems to have been, from the minimal documents left behind, a quiet, simple life. She was a daughter with many siblings, married as soon as she reached adulthood, and then became a young mother, a common trajectory among her peers. She shared the fate of far too many young women in that era: motherhood ended her life. A new little baby came into the world, but Eudoxia was unable to care for and raise him, slipping into death just days after the birth.

So what do we know about Eudoxia? She was born November 12, 1815 to Aaron Fairfax Smith and Judith Stum Smith. She was the third of their eventual eleven children, so she probably grew up helping to care for her younger siblings. Her father was a farmer in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky.

She had an unusual name. Her siblings were given traditional Biblical names such as Margaret and Moses or family names like Presley and Edward Rumsey. The name Eudoxia stands out—perhaps as an infant she stood out to her parents, prompting them to choose a more exotic first name for her. The name Eudoxia is Greek in origin and means “good fame” or “good judgment”.

On September 11, 1837, she married Alney McLean Robertson. She was twenty-one and he was twenty-three. He was the son of another farmer in Muhlenberg County. I was unable to find a marriage record or a newspaper account of the wedding, and I am not sure where the newlyweds made their home. Perhaps they lived with Alney’s parents.

Eudoxia and Alney became parents nine months later. Daughter Laura Robertson was born June 5, 1838. Just a year and two months later, they had a second child, a son they named Aaron Smith Robertson in honor of Eudoxia’s father. The little boy was born September 22, 1839. Eudoxia must have suffered childbirth complications or a post-birth infection. She died five days after the birth at the age of twenty-three.

Eudoxia was buried in the McDougal Cemetery in Paradise, Kentucky. She has a beautiful headstone featuring a weeping willow and a poem that in part reads “o Sister dear”. It appears her siblings may have paid for and erected the headstone.

Image of headstone showing the weeping willow.

Her little son, Aaron, died at the same young age as his mother. He enlisted in the Union Army in 1861. He held the rank of corporal in Company I, and was assigned to Camp Caloway near Hartford, Kentucky. He contracted typhoid, and died March 11, 1862 in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of twenty-two. I have written a separate post about Eudoxia’s daughter Laura, which will follow this post. Eudoxia’s children’s burial sites are unknown—they had no loving siblings to pay for their burials.

Like so many women in our family trees, Eudoxia’s life story is one of silence. She appeared on no official records, she left no personal records, no photos, and sadly no descendants. She lived and worked in homes owned by men—first her father’s home and then her husband’s. Women in that era worked hard—their days were busy from morning until night with essential chores. But their stories remain untold. I honor these quiet, forgotten lives. Women like Eudoxia deserve our respect.

Sources:

Findagrave Entry for Eudoxia Robertson. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/39541268/eudoxia-robertson