Census records are amongst the most widely used government records for family history research. The U.S. Congress authorized the first nationwide census in 1790. A census has continued to be taken every ten years. The 2010 Census is coming soon. Information from the 1790-1930 U.S. censuses is available to the public. More recent censuses are restricted for 72 years because of rights to privacy. You can even view the countdown clock for access to the U.S. 1940 Census.
The primary reason for taking the Census is to determine the representation in Congress from political districts in each state. The government also uses the censuses to gather other details about individuals.
The 1790-1840 censuses listed the names of the heads of free households and statistics for all members of the households, both free and enslaved. Native Americans were not listed in the early censuses unless they lived in the general community. Free members of households were listed by name with their age and state or country of birth beginning with the 1850 Census. Only statistical information was gathered for the slaves in the 1850 and 1860 censuses. Other information requested in the 1850-1880 censuses included relationships, occupations, school attendance and value of real and personal property. The state or country of birth of the parents of those listed was requested for the first time in 1880. The month and year of birth of individuals were requested only in the 1900 Census. Information about the immigrant’s year of arrival, and status of naturalization was also requested for the first time in 1900.
As you can imagine, the answers to these questions are very useful to family historians and provide a snapshot of our ancestors’ families. We can determine the changes that occurred in their households during each decade. These details provide researchers with genealogical data and valuable clues for further research.
Most of the U.S. censuses are preserved in the National Archives, which is the repository for U.S. Government records. The surviving censuses have been microfilmed. A number of the mid-Atlantic and southern states’ censuses were destroyed during the War of 1812 when Washington, D.C. was burned by the British. Only a few townships of the 1890 U.S. Census are available to researchers because the 1890 Census schedules were almost entirely destroyed in a Department of Commerce warehouse fire. Go here for more information about the 1890 census.
Today, researchers have access to the censuses in digitized format through the Ancestry Library Edition and Heritage Quest Online databases, which are available at The Seattle Public Library. Ancestry is the more popular database because it has an every name index and powerful searching tools such as Soundex and wildcard searching. Ancestry is only available for use at the Central and Branch Libraries. Heritage Quest Online is available for use remotely by cardholders of The Seattle Public Library. While Heritage Quest also digitized all the census images, they indexed only the head of household for most census years. They did do an every name index for the 1880 Census. Their search tools are not as varied as Ancestry’s.
The censuses are indexed manually, because handwritten material cannot be searched directly in the digitized format. Errors in spelling in the indexes occur because of the indexer’s interpretation of the poor or faded handwriting. The Seattle Public Library has a collection of the printed head of household indexes for the U.S. Censuses of 1790-1870 and part of the 1880 Census. In addition, a researcher may need to scan the entire census of a county in order to find a person of interest. This can be done using either the microfilm or digital format. Some of the U.S. Census on microfilm is available at The Seattle Public Library, and the complete set is available at the Pacific Alaska Regional Branch-Seattle of the National Archives.
“Finding Answers in U.S. Census Records” by Loretta Dennis Szucs will provide you with additional information on the value of using U.S. censuses for your genealogy research.
The British Isles and Canada also regularly enumerated their populations. The Canadian censuses began in 1825 and are available for public searching through 1916. Some Canadian Census images can be searched through Ancestry Library Edition and the Canada Genealogy Centre Web site. Follow this link for more information on Canadian censuses.
“Census: the Expert Guide” by Peter Christian is a good source of information on the censuses of the United Kingdom. A related article can be found on the GENUKI Web site.
Immigration records will be the topic for the next Genealogy 101.
~Darlene H, Central
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