The Staub Family and the Census,
1790-1930
by Jeffrey L. Thomas
The Staub family has appeared in every U.S. census since the first one taken in 1790. Although our immigrant ancestor, John Adam Staub had died by the time of the first federal census, his sons, including our next ancestor Jacob Staub, were included in the 1790 returns. Our examination of subsequent census returns continues with Jacob, then moves to his son Adam Sr., then to Adam's son Adam Jr., then to Adam Jr's son Daniel, and concludes with sixth-generation ancestor Harry J. Staub and his family. I have written a short commentary on each census decade from 1790 to 1930, that notes the location of the family and the makeup of the household, and provided links to the actual census images for the primary family mentioned.
1790 Census - Heidelberg Township, York County, Pennsylvania
Jacob Staub (1750-1821) makes his first census appearance in the 1790 census for Heidelberg Township in York County (Jacob Stap). The census tells us that in 1790 the Jacob Staub household consisted of 9 individuals, including one male 16 and older (Jacob), two males under 16, and six females. The returns provide no other information.
By the time the next census was taken in 1800, Heidelberg Township and the rest of the Conewago Valley had been absorbed into newly-created Adams County, Pennsylvania. By 1800 the census was providing a little more information (although not a great deal more). In the 1800 returns we again find Jacob Staub (Staab) living in Heidelberg Township in Adams County. His brother Philip Staub is listed on the same page two names down from Jacob. The returns indicate that in 1800 the Jacob Staub household consisted of 11 individuals, as follows: one male under 10, three males 10-15, one male 45 and over (Jacob), two females under 10, one female 10-15, two females 16-25, and one female 45 and over (Jacob's wife Elizabeth Lafleur).
In 1810 we find Jacob Staub and family living in Conewago Township in Adams Co., Pa. This change in townships from Heidelberg to Conewago likely does not reflect a change of residence, but rather the creation of Conewago Township in the area where Jacob and his family were living. The returns list the seven-member Jacob Staub family as follows: one male under 10, one male 10-15, one male 45 and over (Jacob), one female 10-15, two females 16-25, and one female 45 and older (Jacob's wife Elizabeth). Jacob's brothers Philip and John are also listed as living in the township.
By 1820 Jacob's son and our next ancestor Adam Staub Sr., (b.1785) was living in nearby Hamilton Township in Adams County. In the 1820 census, the family of Adam Staub included ten individuals, as follows: four males under 10, one male 10-16, one male 26-45 (Adam), three females under 10, and one female 26-45 (Adam's wife Susanna Grove). Old Jacob Staub died in 1821 and was buried at Conewago Chapel. His tombstone is the oldest standing Staub grave marker I have located in the cemetery.
In the 1830 census we again find the family of Adam Staub, Sr. living in Hamilton Township. By this time the family had grown to eleven individuals, including: one male under 5, one male 5-10, one male 10-15, two males 15-20, one male 40-50 (Adam), one female under 5, one female 5-10, one female 10-15, one female 15-20, and one female 40-50 (Adam's wife Susanna).
In the 1840 census we the families of both Adam Staub, Sr., and his son and our next ancestor, Adam Staub, Jr. (1808-1888), living in Hamilton Township in Adams County. The ten-member family of Adam Staub Sr. included two males 10-15, one male 15-20, one male 20-30, one male 50-60 (Adam), one female under 5, two females 15-20, and one female 40-50. The female under 5 was likely a granddaughter. It is also probable that Adam's wife Susanna died prior to 1840, and that the female listed in the 1840 census as being 40-50 was the woman found living with Adam ten years later in 1850, Madeline Grove, probably a relative of his wife Susanna.
In the early 1830s, Adam Staub Jr. married Sarah Brombach, and by 1840 the census indicated that their family included five individuals: one male under 5, one male 5-10, one male 30-40 (Adam), one female under 5 and one female 20-30 (Adam's wife Sarah).
A change was made to the census in 1850, whereby all members of the household were listed rather than just the head of the household, making 1850 the first modern census. In the returns we again find Adam Staub Sr. and Jr. living in Hamilton Township. The returns list Adam Jr. as a farmer, and in possession of property valued at $5,000.00, an impressive sum for those times! Adam's family is listed as follows:
Adam Staub: 40
Daniel Staub: 18 (our next ancestor)
John Staub: 16
Cornelius Staub: 9
Leo Staub: 3
Pius Staub: 1
Elizabeth Staub:13
Mary M. Staub: 12
Sarah E. Staub: 6
Sarah Staub: 40In this curious listing the males of the household are listed first, and Adam's wife Sarah is listed last. On the same page we find Adam Staub, Sr., listed as 64 years old, occupation "wagon maker" and in possession of land valued at $700.00. The only other member of the household is 54-year-old Madeline Grove, who may have been the 40-50 year old female that was living with Adam Sr. in the 1840 census.
In the 1860 census we find the family of Adam Staub living in Oxford Township in Adams County, as follows:
Adam Staub: 55, Farmer
Sarah: 55
John: 24, Farm Hand
Mary: 20
Cornelius: 18
Allan(?): 15
Leo: 13
Pius: 11
Ambrose: 8Son Ambrose was the last addition to the family, while (son?) Allan(?) does not appear in the family ten years earlier in 1850.
By 1860 Adam Staub's son Daniel (b. 1833), our next ancestor, had married Mary Sneeringer, and was also living in Oxford Township. The returns list the 27-year-old Daniel as a "day laborer" and in possession of personal property valued at $100.00. His wife Mary is listed as 19 years old, and the household included two other females born in Ireland, May M. McLaughlin, 68 years old, and Mary Mc(?), 62 years old, possible relatives of Daniel's wife Mary.
By 1870 Adam Staub had moved from the familiar surroundings of the Conewago Valley to Franklin Township in the western portion of Adams County, and it is here that we find the family in the 1870 census. In 1870 the Staub household included Adam Staub, age 61, his wife Sarah, age 61, son James (Leo James), age 22, Leo's wife Mary, age 20, daughter Ellen, age 25, son Ambrose, age 17, and two borders, Francis Ginter, Age 8, and John Dillon, age 75. Adam Staub's occupation is given as "farmer" and he is listed as being in possession of real estate valued at $3,000.00 and personal property valued at $600.00.
Daniel and Mary Staub had one daughter, Rosanna, who was born in 1861, however Mary died sometime after the birth of her daughter, because in 1867 Daniel Staub remarried Margaret Adams, a descendant of Thomas and Magdelen Adams of Conewago. In the 1870 census Daniel (age 37) and Margaret (age 29) are living, not in Adams County, but rather in the town of Williamsport in Lycoming County, Pa. Daniel's occupation is listed as house carpenter. It is likely that their stay in Williamsport was only temporary, because by the time their son Harry was born in September 1870, the couple had moved back to Adams County.
In 1880 we find the family of Daniel and Margaret Staub back in Conewago Township in Adams County. Daniel Staub is listed as a 47-year-old carpenter, while Margaret is listed as 29. Son Harry J. Staub, age 10, and our next ancestor, makes his first appearance in the census. In 1880 Daniel's father Adam Staub (age 71) was still living in Franklin Township with his wife Sarah (age 71) and their son Ambrose (age 27). This would be Adam Staub's final appearance in the census, as he died in 1888.
In 1892 Harry J. Staub married Sarah Anastasia (Sallie) Eltz in nearby Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania. She was born on 24 Dec 1869, and was one of eleven children of John and Savilla Weaver Eltz. Shortly after their marriage, Harry and Sallie Staub settled in McSherrystown, Conewago Township in Adams County. For most of his life Harry Staub was a cigar maker, following his trade for over 40 years, many of those with the B.P. Topper Company in McSherrystown. Our first glimpse of Harry, Sallie and family is in the census of 1900. The returns show them living in McSherrystown (Conewago Township) next door to Harry's parents Daniel and Margaret Staub. At the time the family included Harry (age 30), Sarah A. (age 30), and children Roy (age 8), Mary Grace (age 6), Mary Gertrude (age 3), and Daniel (age 1). Harry's occupation is given as "cigar maker".
By 1910 Daniel Staub had died and Harry Staub and family had moved into a house on 2nd Street (or Church street) in McSherrystown. In the 1910 census the Staub family included Harry, Sallie, Roy, Grace, Gertrude, Edwin, Ellis, Marguerite, Thelma, Ruth, Rodney, and Harry's 69 year old widowed mother Margaret Adams Staub. The census was taken about a week before the birth of my grandmother Helen. Sallie's mother, 76 year old widowed Savilla Eltz, is living next door with the family of her daughter Mary Small. We have a wonderful photograph of the Staub family taken in 1912, that includes most of Sallie's children, at least one grandchild, and Sallie's mother-in-law, Margaret. Unfortunately the Staub family would be shattered by tragic events not too long after the photo was taken.
Sallie Staub died 28 Jan 1913 from childbirth complications following the birth of her son Joseph (who also died shortly thereafter). She had just turned 43 on Christmas Eve the previous month. Her death certificate lists her cause of death as "pneumonia caused by acute nephritis," a kidney problem which in those days frequently killed women following childbirth. Following the death of his wife, Harry Staub found himself unable and unwilling to cope with the responsibilities of raising his family without his wife. Family tradition says that most of the underage girls were taken by relatives in the area, while the boys were sent away to a school somewhere in New York. Although I have been unable to locate Harry himself in the 1920 census, I have been able to track most of his children in the returns, as follows:
As for Harry's children, the 1920 census reveals the following: Roy Staub, age 27, was grown and already busy raising his own family by the time his mother died in 1913. In the 1920 census we find Roy and his family living on Commerce Street in nearby Penn Township, York County. His occupation is given as "wood worker - furniture factory." Mary Grace Staub, age 26 was living with her husband Gilbert McMaster on North Street in McSherrystown. Her younger sister Marguerite Staub was also living with the family.
was living with her husband David Shanabrook in Parkville, Penn Township. The family included her sister Thelma Staub, age 13. Daniel Staub, age 20, was living with his wife Annie on Pine St. in Penn Township, occupation "wood worker - furniture factory." Ellis Staub, age 19, was living close to Daniel on Pine Street with his wife Louise, occupation, "laborer - furniture factory." Ruth Staub, age 13, was living with the family of Eli & Amanda Shanabrook in Penn Township. It is likely that the Shanabrooks were related to Ruth's brother-in-law David. Rodney Staub, age 13 (s/b 11) was living with his adoptive parents Edward & Elizabeth Korab(?) in Erie County, New York. This confirms that at least one of the boys did indeed end up in New York. Helen Staub, age 9, was living with her foster father Jacob Althoff (widowed), in Akron Ohio. She was the only daughter not to remain in the McSherrystown area, although she would return later in the decade. Robert Francis Staub was adopted and his name was changed to Claire Pistner. In 1920 he is living with his adoptive parents Charles and Selina? Pistner in St Mary's Township in Elk County, Pa.
Harry Staub reappears in the 1930 census in the city of York, York County, Pa. The returns list him as a "roomer" living with the family of Carrie Weaver and two other "roomers". Harry is described by the returns as widowed, 53 years old (s/b 60) and a cigar maker. Harry Staub died on 17 September 1937 at the Eagles Club in McSherrystown, two weeks short of his 67th birthday. His death certificate tells us that he suffered a "sudden cerebral hemorrhage" that caused immediate blindness. He died a half an hour later at the local hospital.
Text and photographs copyright © 2003 by Jeffrey L. Thomas, with all rights reserved
e-mail: jltbalt1@verizon.net
1790 Census - Heidelberg Township, York County, Pennsylvania
1800 Census - Heidelberg Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania
1810 Census - Conewago Township, York County, Pennsylvania
1820 Census - Hamilton Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania
1830 Census - Hamilton Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania
1840 Census - Hamilton Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania
1850 Census - Hamilton Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania
1860 Census - Oxford Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania
1870 Census - Franklin Township, Adams County & Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
1880 Census - Conewago Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania
1900 Census - Conewago Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania
1910 Census - Conewago Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania
1930 Census - City of York, York County, Pennsylvania