The Book of Ether provides a general census of those who “went forth upon the face of the land, and began to till the earth” after their arrival in the promised land (Ether 6:13). Three groups are mentioned:

The statement that “the friends of Jared and his brother were in number about twenty and two souls” is significant. Does this number indicate there were 22 heads of families or 22 husbands and wives representing 11 families? In either case, these additional families, who were friends of Jared and his brother, had “begat sons and daughters before they came to the promised land; and therefore they began to be many” (Ether 6:16). Based on the use of the word “soul” elsewhere in the Book of Mormon, we are of the opinion that the “twenty and two souls” could represent husbands and wives (11 families), but not necessarily their children, because the “twenty and two souls” were “friends” of Jared and his brother, and a friend, presumably, would be someone whose age would be nearer their own ages (Mosiah 18:16, 35; Hel. 3:26; 3 Ne. 17:25; Ether 6:20). This view is also supported by the statement that the 22 souls “begat sons and daughters before they came to the promised land,” and, therefore, would have been adults and not children (Ether 6:16). Accepting this to be the case, these first-generation families, at a minimum, would total 13—the two families of Jared and his brother and the 11 families of their friends. With eight barges, this would allow one or two first-generation families per barge. The record is not clear, but there could have been a number of second-generation families who boarded the boats. The total population of men, women and children, upon their arrival in the new land, can only be estimated. Even a rough estimate would be difficult to calculate, but could approach 100. The families and their children “began to spread upon the face of the land, and to multiply and to till the earth; and they did wax strong in the land” (Ether 6:18).