Duplicity on Census

This afternoon I examined the Death register for Mercer Co., WV, more specifically the entry for my great, great grandfather Silas Smith Vines. In the “race” columns, he was marked both “white” and “free colored.” I have my suspicions that Silas was at least partially Indian, based on a picture I have of his grandson wherein he displays the customary characteristics–nose, complexion, cheekbones, he’s too old to determine hair. I am searching for the origins of my “shovel teeth,” and have included Silas on the list of suspects.

Does anyone know whether clerks, etc., were using combinations to indicate different “composites” post Civil War? On the same page were three or four more entries similar to Silas’, including one where “white” and “colored, slave” were jointly marked. Does free colored and white mean “Indian mulatto” where slave and white mean “African mulatto’? The “Sex” column was separated from the “Race” column by another entry, which suggests that the dual race entries were not errors.

Silas showed up on the Census entries I have seen as “White.” He died in 1886, and I wonder if there was a push for increased scrutiny about then.