Oxendine Census Records

When searching the census for Oxendine records, it's important to remember that many Oxendines were illiterate - they could not read or write. For example, Cud knew his name was "Cud Oxendine" because his parents called him that, but he didn't know exactly how to write it out. So when a census person showed up at his door and asked who he was, Cud said, "Cud Oxendine" in his local accent. It was now up to the census taker to figure out how to write that down. Should he write down "Cud"? "Cood"? "Cuhd"? "Cudd"? Oxendine might turn into Exendine or Oxendene or other variations depending on the accent heard.

I have done a great deal of research into the Oxendines, digging manually through decades of census records. I've seen a wide variety of spelling variations. It's not that these changes were being done "on purpose". It's just what happened when a census taker tried to interpret what was being said to them.

If you use the sitemap below, you will find access to the various census images that I provide online for your researching use. Enjoy!

Main Page for Oxendine Research

Cood Oxendine ~1750
David Oxendine ~1775
Wilson Oxendine ~1818
Elizabeth Oxendine ~1839

Sitemap of All Research on Oxendines