Gregory Kennedy

A New Prosopography: The Enumerators of the 1891 Census in Ontario

Abstract Who were the enumerators and to what degree were they representative of the wider Ontario population in 1891? What potential influence did the selection of enumerators have on the accuracy and bias of the census returns? We address these questions by considering the residence and socioeconomic characteristics of Ontario enumerators, as identified in their own census returns, in relation to a new 5 percent sample of the entire Ontario population. We found that the census commissioners were largely successful in finding men they deemed trustworthy and reliable to serve as enumerators: married, middle-aged heads of household with ties to their communities. These men were broadly representative of the rest of 1891 Ontario, especially the large class of independent farmers and tradesmen in the countryside and the growing middle class in the towns and cities. However, communities composed of ethnic or religious minorities including French-Canadian Catholics and Lutherans often had an enumerator who shared their language and culture. The 1891 census was not objective and was certainly not perfect, but the Dominion was successful in improving and standardizing pre-Confederation census-taking practices. The selection of more competent, knowledgeable, and representative enumerators was a key component of that success.

Reborn in America: French Exiles and Refugees in the United States and the Vine and Olive Adventure, 1815–1865. By Eric Saugera. Translated by Madeleine Velguth. (Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 2011. Pp. x, 572.

This book is about Bonapartist exiles and other French refugees trying to create a wine-growing colony in Alabama. Although this subject has already received attention from historians and popular culture, Eric Saugera aims to “correct errors, fill in gaps, clarify facts, redefine viewpoints, and put forward a detailed version of the successive stages” of the project (6). Drawing from public records, private correspondence, and biographical data, he constructs an engaging narrative that skillfully interweaves the stories of several prominent exiles, such as Marshal Bertrand Clauzel, as well as the previously unknown and unusually rich correspondence of former lieutenant Jacques Lajonie. The author traces his protagonists from the Restoration of the Bourbons through their exodus to the United States, the grant by Congress of lands in Alabama, the journey to the new colony, and, finally, the innumerable difficulties of settlement. The exiles received considerable attention, both from American politicians interested in territorial and economic expansion and from French officials perennially concerned about Bonapartist conspiracies. Saugera brings to life the experiences of the colonists, such as the gruelling work involved in clearing the land, the threat of disease, and the important relationships with local merchants, officials, squatters, and aboriginal peoples. The Colonial Society of French Emigrants, which organized the so-called Vine and Olive Colony, “had a very limited knowledge” of agriculture. Most obviously, the climate of the region was not favorable to grape growing. Further, while some members brought their families and started planting crops, others engaged in trade and land speculation or became focused on other ventures. American planters soon supplanted or bought out most of the colonists to grow cotton, and many of the exiles ultimately chose to return to France. Saugera effectively dispels the older, romanticized vision of gallant Bonapartist officers taking up the plow and further casts doubt on recent studies that suggest the colony was designed to defend the American frontier or served as a front for a plan to free Napoleon. In general, the book’s greatest contribution is its insightful analysis of the political imperatives, economic obstacles, and environmental challenges of colonization on the American frontier. The case of the French

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This article proposes combining traditional family reconstitution methods using parish registers with the notary documents found in the Contrôle des Actes in early modern France. This approach enables the construction of detailed life histories that can combine and link demographic events with economic transactions and provide new insights into life course, socioeconomic hierarchy, and migration. While certain trends connected to life course events can be discerned, peasant experience was diverse and varied and heads of household actively invested, consolidated, or moved in response to their particular circumstances. These were practical decisions based on the multiple options available in their community and within the larger region.