Fruit Salad in the Census

Perhaps I needed some palate cleansing after writing about French Onion Soup in a previous blog entry, or perhaps it was Lisa's Enumerate Me! census fun at her Genealogy Gems blog (particularly since she did a census search on Apple's name, of Apple's Tree), or, perhaps it's just an off-day, but whatever the reason, I got to thinking about possible fruit names in the census.  What I found was a virtual fruit salad of first names, but here are a few highlights.  My comments are itcalicized (BTW, the M or F after the name refers to male or female):

Orange

Orange Beans, M, age 14, Andalusia, Covington, Alabama, 1930
Orange Brown, F, age 10, in Union Springs, Bullock Alabama, 1930
Orange Marks, M, age 56, Stewarts Station, Hale, Alabama, 1930
Orange Peace, M, age 37, Mobile, Alabama, 1930
Orange Purse, M, age 47, Boligee, Greene, Alabama, 1930
Orange Woods, M, age 50, Valley Creek, Dallas, Alabama, 1930

[My goodness, what IS it about Alabama and the name "Orange"?]

Banana

Banana [just plain "Banana"], M, age 46, Navajo Indian Reservation, McKinley, New Mexico, 1920
Banana Doctor, M, age 12, Palmer, Hampton, Massachussetts, 1900
Banana Fair, F, age 19, Police Jury Ward 2, Natchitoches, Louisiana, 1930
Banana Finder, M, age 18, Portage County, Wisconsin, (Mortality Schedules Index, 1850)
Banana Only, F, age 28, Austin Ward 2, Travis, Texas, 1920

Raspberry

Raspberry Basil, M, age 13, Bucktown, Dorchester, Maryland, 1880
Raspberry Bird, M, age 22, Redstone, Fayette, Pennslyvania, 1860
Raspberry Gay Lay, M, age 6 mos., between Holmesville and Osyka R, Amite, Mississippi, 1870
Raspberry Peal, M, age 35, District 4, Gibson, Tennessee, 1850
Raspberry Rhump, M, age 18, Hickory Flat, Cherokee, Georgia, 1870

Strawberry

Strawberry Belcher, F, age 5 [I feel sorry for this little gal], Prairie, Audrain, Missouri, 1860
Strawberry Berry, M, age 14, Brewton, Escambia, Alabama, 1900
Strawberry Savage, F, age 10 [born in Austria], Detroit Ward 9, Wayne, Michigan, 1920
Strawberry Sings, F, age 7, Crow Indian Reservation, Custer, Montana, 1900

Melon

Melon Crater, M, Police Jury Ward 5, Vermillion, Louisiana, 1930
Melon Hunt, M, age 4, Tranquilla, Jones, Georgia, 1930
Melon Rice, M, age 9 mos., Bowling, Perry, Kentucky, 1930
Melon Riser, M, age 10, San Francisco, California, 1930

as well as...

Eat the Melon, M, age 55, of the Mojave Tribe in Colorado (U.S. Indian Census Schedules, 1885). He was married to Corn, age 54, and their family also consisted of:

Lying Light 35
Corn 34
Obsene 18
Tobacco 16
Small Boy 1
Screw Beans 14
Eagle 3
Pete 1  [the family must have run out of imagination by the time Pete came along]

Lemon

Lemon Dandy, M, age 6, Township 11, Range 28, Barbour, Alabama, 1870
Lemon Duff, M, age 45, Precinct 4, Bibb, Alabama, 1910
Lemon Freeze, M, age 20, Birmingham Ward 10, Jefferson, Alabama, 1910
Lemon Molar [personal data not given], Lee, Jefferson, Virginia, 1820

Grape

Grape Joice [I kid you not], M, Anguilla, Sharkey, Mississippi, 1920
[isn't one example enough?]


Alas, no Pineapple, Blueberry, Kumquat, Coconut, Passionfruit (among others), but plenty of "Apple" and "Cherry," as you may suspect.

See what fun, fruity or otherwise, you can have with the U.S. Federal Census. After all, genealogy is not just about facts and figures!