A Census Transcription Mistake Delays Finding of Moses M. Sides Family

For quite some time I have been looking for a Moses M. Sides that married Mary “Polly” Blackwelder in 1836, Cabarrus County, North Carolina.
I knew from an online document that they were married on 21 May 1836 and I had a copy of their Marriage Bond.^{1 2}  

















But, with every search I made I came up short on finding Moses and Polly in the On-line Censuses. This past week I finally found Moses and Polly. I think I only located them because someone had made a correction to their 1850 Census transcription. They are listed in the 1850 Census for Iredell County, North Carolina.

Here is the Ancestry census transcription:


The family is listed with the surname LIDER. Personally, I cannot see how anyone can get LIDER from SIDES but someone certainly did and that is how the Family was listed. When I looked at the census I saw SIDES; but I was familiar with the family and was looking to find SIDES. 




There’s a lesson to be learned here and that is that based on our background and familiarity we see things from a different perspective than others. The individual that transcribed this census did their best and had it confirmed by an unbiased individual. I cannot and will not condemn their effort because I see something I’m familiar with in the entry. 

Shortly after this Census was taken, Moses and his family along with some of Polly‘s Blackwelder family moved to Montgomery County, Illinois. There we found Moses and Polly living in Montgomery County in the 1860 Census.
 













Now that I have found Moses and Polly; I need to fill in the blanks for this family.










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[1] https://www.cabarruscounty.us/government/departments/library/Local%20History/1793_1868_Marriage_Bonds.pdf
[2] "North Carolina, Marriages Record, 1741-2011," database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 22 May 2016), Moses Sides and Polly Blackwelder, Married: 21 May 1836.
[3] 1850 U. S. Census, Iredell County, North Carolina, population schedule, Iredell, North Carolina, Page: 408B(stamped); Line 11,, Dwelling 69, Family 69;, household of Moses M. SIDES; online database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 31 December 2016); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, Roll 634.
[4] 1860 U. S. Census, Montgomery County, Illinois, population schedule, Township 9 N Range 3 W, Montgomery, Illinois, Page: 287 (penciled); Line 8, Dwelling 2044, Family 2082, Household of Moses M. SIDES; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 31 December 2016); citing NARA publication Roll: M653_214.