The Isaacs and Judah (pronounced Judy) sides of my family have perplexed me for a very long time. These guys were very close knit and were constantly living with different family members in the census. Without good family documentation, it has been hard to find who belongs in what family. The 1850 census with my grandparents Amos and Ally Jane (Judah) Isaacs is one such example. They have 8 children living with them, of whom only 2 are their biological ones (Nancy Jane, and Francis Marion), but all appear to have the Isaacs surname attached.
When I originally looked at this document, I saw: Amos, Ally, Burget (which I assumed to be Bridget), Caroline, Richard, Martha, Mary, Amos A., Nancy J. and Francis M. I had come to figure out that since Jesse,the man who I believed to be Amos' dad, went to California with some of his sons - Raleigh and Anderson, and son-in-law- Anderson Burchett, the kids must have been hanging out with Amos and Ally until the parents came back. Jesse had a daughter named Martha who fit the age of Martha in census, and Anderson had children named Mary and Amos A. who also fit the ages. The other kids remained unknown.
My mom recently called me and wondered if the Burget name could actually be Burchett - well, after a second look at the record, the sex designation was male instead of female - so no Bridget! There was a John Burchett (I am not sure how he fits in) that was born in 1838 that was living with Ally's brothers in the 1860 census and would fit the Burget living with Amos and Ally in '50. So a question answered, and more revealed.
Lesson learned - always look at all the clues you are presented with. Never assume you know what's going on. And, never fully trust a census taker's version of how to spell names, etc...
