The government took a census on the 10 year dates beginning in 1790. Not many of the 1790 exist as they burned in a fire. And it would be way to early to find any LaRues in Ohio anyhow. The LaRues were not in Ohio to our knowledge for the 1800 and we do not know where they were living a that time. But the 1810 would be fantastic, if it existed for Ohio, which apparently it does not since I can find no record of it anywhere. So, we are left with checking the 1820 census and that was taken at least 13 years after James Sr. moved into Ohio. It is not the best record to use, but one to look at none the less. Only one problem, it is really hard to read. These old census' were generally written by traveling census takers and the combination of old paper, poor writing tools, poor handwriting and spelling, preservation of the records and their resulting conditions do not make them easy records to read. The 1820 census for Guernsey County has been microfilmed but is virtually impossible to read except for a few letters here and there on the pages that contain James Sr.. In that census it looks like our James is listed as either Larrow or Darrow. He has what appears to be a total of 13 persons in his household, most likely 11 of them his children. But, we only know of 10 children for him at this point, so the unknown male child born 1810-1820 is where this first appears. We find no enumeration for his brother John Sr. living in this household, so John must have land of his own somewhere. John does not obtain a patent until 1825 which is also when he shows up on the tax rolls along with James Sr. There is a name on the previous page of the 1820 census that may be for John, but the writing and condition of the census is not conclusive. The 1830 census is a little better but it is simply to long after their first settlement to suit my purposes. So, what other records can I use to determine who may have settled in Guernsey County at about the same time as James Sr.?
