I have been researching the Wards of Johnson and Martin Co. for a while. I have noticed that the Johnson Co. Ward family have the box "color" checked on the 1850 census. They could have been mulatto. There has always been the idea they were Indian. I wonder if the census taker would mark the "color" box if a person was part Indian. Can anybody answer that or tell me where I could find the answer?

Another family with that box checked is Robert Ross and a Mary Ross - probably brother and sister. Robert's wife was Alsey and he had children Walter and Elizabeth. Anybody know these people?