The work project for Censuses Section is to transcribe the
Federal Censuses for the Brookhaven Hamlet area, and in so far as I can,
analyze and track the development of the Hamlet from the 18th century
into the 20th century.
This section is a long term project, and to be honest, a bit
tedious. I'm not sure when (or if) it will every be completed.
One difficulty is that the boundaries of the Hamlet are
amorphous -- who's in, who's not? Maps with dwelling occupants
identified are helpful, but there are large gaps between the dates of the maps
available to me. (If you want your family to be "in," I accept
bribes.) It's therefore not clear that I will be able to separate
out the Brookhaven Hamlet (Fire Place) population from the remainder of Town of
Brookhaven, especially in the early years when neither local community,
dwelling sequence, nor street address is recorded.
The 1850 Census is the first Federal
Census in which all members of a household are identified by name.
Prior to that time, only the "head" of the household is
identified, and but limited summary information on the overall family
recorded.
One of the great boons to researchers is the
recent availability of census images online. No longer is it required to
traipse off to a library and pour through reels and reels of microfilm.
I can get bored in the comfort of my own office! I use Ancestry.com.

Longwood Middle School History Project
The students of the Longwood
Middle School have completed transcriptions of several censuses for the
entire Town of Brookhaven. I am hoping to be able to extract from this
excellent work those individuals who were residents of Fire Place/South Haven
hamlets and place them in my own tables.