In 1835, Santiago do Iguape parish included 959* fogos or households; the census taker used the fogo designation not just to identify groups of people living together in the same home, but to identify the head of each domestic group. The emphasis placed on naming the household head and defining the other members of the household in relation to this individual reflected a social hierarchy that placed wives, children, free servants and slaves under the unquestioned authority of the household head. Ideally, this head would be free, branco, and male, but in Santiago do Iguape people of color and women often functioned as household heads.
Inclusion in the fogo often implied that the individuals listed lived together in the same house, but this was not always the case. In some listings the census included slaves and dependents living in other buildings on the property as part of the fogo. In the eyes of the census taker, the more salient information was the relationships of dependence and domination recorded.
This search engine lets you examine how the race, sex, and marital status of the head of household shaped other characteristics of the group that lived there. Choose any of the following variables encoded by the census taker to see the characteristics of households that meet your queries.
How to Search:
You may choose to limit your search by checking any of the filters below, choosing as many or as few as you wish. To include all heads of household meeting a specific criteria – for example, to include both male and female household heads in your results – simply leave both of the boxes under “Sex” unchecked.
After all the households matching your search criteria display, click the column headings to further sort your responses.
Original Source for the Database:
Arquivo Público do Estado da Bahia, Salvador. “Relação de Fogos e Moradores da Freguesia de Santiago Maior do Iguape, da comarca da Vila da Cachoeira,” Seção Provincial e Colonial, maço 6175-1.
* this total excludes the households identified as headed by slaves. The census taker identified slave heads of household in cases of estates in the process of being partitioned after the owner’s death or slaves held by a sugar mill owner who owned multiple properties.