Introduction: Joseph Forsyth is known as an early Somerset County gunsmith from tax records. I wonder if he may be the Joseph Forsyth who appears in 1840 pensioner and population census records of Mifflin Township of Allegheny County, but I have no way of proving it.
1790: Joseph Forsyth does not appear in the transcript of the 1790 census of Maryland (23 MB) or in the transcript of the 1790 census of Pennsylvania (46 MB).
1800: Joseph Forsyth does not appear in the transcripts of the 1800 census of Somerset County or the 1800 census of Bedford County that I reviewed. I also could not find Joseph Forsyth in the 1800 manuscript census records of Somerset Borough or Somerset Township.
1802-1803: According to Kauffman's 1960 book "The Pennsylvania - Kentucky Rifle", Joseph Forsyth is identified as a gunsmith on the tax rolls of Somerset Township, Somerset County, in the years 1802 and 1803. In the 1802 tax list of Somerset Township, the value of the gunsmith Joseph Forsyth is given as $100.00.
1810: Joseph Forsyth does not appear in a transcript of the 1810 federal census of Somerset County that I reviewed. I also could not find Joseph Forsyth in the 1810 manuscript census records of Somerset Borough or Somerset Township.
1820: I found no Forsyth listings in the manuscript 1820 census records of Mifflin Township, Allegheny County Pennsylvania.
1830: I found no Joseph Forsyth listings in the manuscript 1830 census records of Mifflin Township, Allegheny County Pennsylvania. Although I don't know if it is relevant, a Joseph Forsyth in the 60-to-70 year age range is listed in the 1830 census records of Jefferson Township, Allegheny County Pennsylvania.
1840: Although there is no reason at present to say that the following information is relevant, the 1841 book "A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services..." indicates that an 84-year-old veteran Joseph Forsyth of Mifflin Township, Allegany (sic) County, Pennsylvania appears in an 1840 pensioner census. Joseph Forsyth is the only pensioner listed for Mifflin Township, and he is described as living in a household headed by an individual named Joseph Forsyth. It seems curious that the Revolutionary War veteran James Forsyth isn't listed as a Mifflin Township pensioner, because he didn't die until 1850.
1840: Although I do not know if it is the right individual, the household of a Joseph Forsyth appears in the 1840 census records of Mifflin Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The household includes a male in the 80-to-90 age column. The Joseph Forsyth household is listed next to a Louis Forsyth household. I believe Louis Forsyth is one of the children of the Revolutionary War Veteran James Forsyth the second who (based on his tombstone at the Lebanon Church Cemetery in West Mifflin, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania) would have been 84 years old during part of 1840.
