The 1860 federal census is the first we have since the creation of Benezette Township in Elk County. It documented much of the same information as the 1850 census.

The census of 1860 shows a change in the character of the population of Benezette. There are 60 family names, but almost half of these names (27 of 60) are represented by just one person, typically males under 30. Notable exceptions are school teacher Susan E Rigby, age 22 (the only woman to have an occupation noted by the census) and 75-year-old Deborah Hicks. Hicks is in the household of James and Nancy Bateman; James, age 52, has the occupation “hunter” and his son, Levi, age 22, is a “day laborer.” These two men support the 8-person household, which also includes several young women: Elizabeth (age 18), Luann (age 14) and Nancy A (age7). It is noted that neither James or Nancy Bateman can read or write, and that no one in the household attended school that year.

Males outnumber females by a much larger margin than in earlier censuses, 171 males to 103 females. Males also outnumber females in every age category. Kids under 10 and teenagers each make up about one-quarter of the entire population. This is definitely a young man’s time – two-thirds of the population is under the age of 30. A total of 41 percent of working men were engaged as “day laborers” or “farm laborers.” The category “farmers,” presumably men who own farms rather than work on a farm for wages, make up 35 percent of the work force. “Lumberman” makes up another 5 percent, but presumably many of those “day laborers” are also doing work related to lumber. But there is a hint of a new direction, too – Alex Cunningham, a 30-year-old Welshman, is listed as a “miner.”

Alex Cunningham and five other young men are part of the household of “lumberman” Reuben Winslow, age 66. Originally from Maine, he and Elizabeth, age 60 (born “at sea”) established one of the first farms near Benezette on what we know today as Winslow Hill. Reuben was instrumental in the founding of Elk County in the 1840s and was one of the first county commissioners. He also had the first coal mine near Benezette, so it is likely that the “day laborers” in his household were working the mine, perhaps with Cunningham as a supervisor. The Winslow household consisted of five family members and six hired men.

Reuben Winslow’s real estate holdings were estimated to be valued at $60,000 and another $1,000 in his personal estate. R. C. Winslow, his son, had real estate valued at $12,000 and personal estate valued at $800.

In addition to the Winslows, several other families are well-established by 1860, including Johnson, English, Lewis, Murry and Overturf.