The United States Census

On the first of March, 1790, Congress passed the act for the first national census of the United States.  Data collected was to include the name of the head of family, free white males sixteen and over (to access the countries industrial and military potential), free white males under sixteen, free white females and all other free persons and slaves.

Collected data from the thirteen states and the territories showed a total population of 3,893,635 (Just slightly more than the present population of Los Angeles.).  This included 694,280 slaves.  Both President Washington and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson expressed skepticism as to the accuracy, believing the true count would be higher.  Considering the rural nature of the country, the lack of transportation and roadways, they were probably right. While much of the original data (the actual data sheets) has been destroyed, the facts of the count have survived in secondary sources.

Until 1850 the census data did not provide very much information helpful in tracing one’s family history.  Changes in 1850 data included the collection of all individual’s names, sex, age and color.  In later census you can find additional data such as marital status, place of birth, education and occupation.

The 1890 census records were damaged in part in a fire in 1921.  While only an estimated 15-20 percent was destroyed in the fire, the remaining were destroyed in 1932 when the librarian failed to identify the documents as which should be retained for historical purposes. Since 1890 had been processed (for the first time) using machine readable medium (punch cards), it might have been thought that the actual paper data was of no practical use.

Census data collection is governed by various laws, as such they are protected as “privileged information”.  The 1940 census is the latest data that has been released for public viewing.  The 1950 data will not be available for several years.

While census data can be a tremendous source when searching our ancestry, it can also prove to be a headache.  Caution must be exercised since so many of our ancestral families were closely related and many children of a generation carry the same name.  Care must also be given when searching the census data using the on-line data bases.  Too often the data is indexed incorrectly.  The physical pages (microfilm) should be reviewed whenever possible.  Even the physical pages will very often have mistakes, I have found Rockholt recorded as Rockhole, Rockhold, and Rockwell.  Variances in age are not uncommon, and even misrepresentation of one’s sex.  By comparing previous and subsequent census data you can often resolve any issues that exist.