Thursday, September 28, 2017

U.S. Census Records

This past Friday, I taught a class on using U.S. Census records in your genealogy research. It was
well received and even my co-worker, Lisa commented that she learned new techniques.

Here are some of the highlights:

HISTORY/What it is:


  • Every 10 years since 1790, the United States has counted everyone who is living in the country. This is done to apportion how many representatives each state gets to send to Congress.
  • Because of privacy concerns, the records are not released to the public for 72 years. Hence, we cannot access the 1950 census until 2022.

Why do we want to use the census?

  • Can show us where our ancestors lived at the time of the census.
  • Later censuses give us the occupation of our ancestors.
  • Later censuses list the names of the wife and children and their approximate birth year.
  • Can be used to estimate relative economic status of our ancestors.
  • Can help identify the daughters in a family, who get married (thereby changing their names) and move away.

What to look out for (weaknesses):

  • Spelling can be very inexact. In the past, spelling wasn't as standardized as it is today. How a name is recorded depended on the person writing it down. Accents can confuse the enumerator.
  • Some people were deliberately not counted, such as Native Americans or enslaved people.
  • Other people with a strong distrust of their government, would avoid being counted or outright lied.
  • Birthdays and exact ages were not as precise in the past and are often just estimates.
  • For the earliest censuses, the enumerator was not well trained, did not have to have good handwriting and often had to provide their own paper.
  • The enumerators had to make 2-3 copies of the census, leading to more errors in their work. Some even had their children help with the copying!
In this excerpt from the 1850 Census for Gallia County, OHIO, my ancestor's name is spelled JONSON, not
a spelling I would have thought to look for.

What you will find in the different census schedules:

  • 1790-1840 – The censuses for these years only list the head of the household by name, and then list the remaining inhabitants by gender and age group. 
1840 Census for Gallia County, Ohio. Only the head of the household is listed by age. Others are only indicated
by age range and gender.

  • The 1850 census is the first census that lists everyone in the household by name, gender and age. It does not say what their relationship is to the head of the household and cannot by themselves be used to prove parentage.
  • 1860 is the census that was taken right before the Civil War. The War caused many people to relocate.
  • The 1870 census was taken after the Civil War. It is the first census where formerly enslaved individuals are named.
  • The 1880 census is the first census that lists everyone's relationship to the head of the household.
This excerpt from the 1880 Census for Gallia County OHIO shows William JOHNSON, his wife Frances
and their 7 children. Prior to 1880 the relationship of the people in the household is not stated. You cannot assume
that all the children listed are living with their birth parents.

  • The 1890 census was mostly destroyed by fire. There was a supplemental census of Civil War veterans and most of that has survived.
  • 1900 census lists a person’s year of immigration into the United States, as well as their naturalization status. 
  • 1910 census lists whether the person was a union or confederate veteran of the Civil War. It also asks how many children born to this woman and how many are still alive.
  • 1920 census asks about the year of naturalization and native language.
This excerpt from the 1920 Census for Cleveland, Cuyahoga County shows that "Sam Desalvo" immigrated in 1911
and his wife, Mary came in 1915. "PA" means that Sam has filed his citizenship papers, but he had not yet become
a citizen. "AL" means that "Mary" is an alien. Sam's real name was Salvatore Di Salvo. Sam was a nickname. Mary's birth name was Maria. I had to search by the children's names to find this family. 

  • 1930 this census asked 32 questions, including did the family own a radio set!
  • 1940 this census asked 50 questions, including where each individual lived in 1935. Lines 14 & 29 have supplemental questions asked at the bottom.
  • 1950 and later censuses will not be released until 72 years after they were taken. That means we have to wait until 2022 for the release of the 1950 census.
  • The censuses that have not yet been released, can be ordered via form BC-600from the U.S. Census Bureau. Current cost $75 : https://www.census.gov/history/pdf/bc-600-2013.pdf 

Accessing the censuses at these web sites:

  • FamilySearch.org free to use anywhere there is Internet access
  • Heritage Quest at home through your library and using your library account information
  • Ancestry Library Edition available from inside your library.
  • Also available at other subscription sites such as:
    • Ancestry.com
    • FindMyPast 
    • MyHeritage.com
Search tips:
  • Look on the page before and the page after for neighbors and other relatives. 
  • If having trouble locating a family with a common name, try looking for the children with less common names. 
  •  You can search by first names only, combined with locality. 
  • Use wildcards to search names that can have different spellings: 
                “*” Substitutes for up to 5 letters. Ex:“Joh*” for JOHNSON, JOHNSTON. 
                 “?” Substitutes for one letter. Ex. "Eli?abeth" for Elisabeth or Elizabeth
  •  Record the details to compare with other information you know about the family. 
  • Compare the handwriting for deciphering hard to read names. L, S, and T and F 
1850 Lawrence County, Ohio census for James TAGG family. Does the "T" look like a T to you?
It could be interpreted as a "T" or "Y". Notice Martha Ward on the bottom line? She has no known relationship
 to anyone in the family. We may never know why she was living with them in 1850. 



Here is the James TAGG family in the 1860 Census. The "T" here looks more like an "F" to me.


And here is the family in the 1870 census. The letter "T" her has lost all resemblance to a T. It could be interpreted
 as an "L". I thought it looked like a capital ""B" that had lost its front | . Someone else has suggested it looked
 like a "Z" I have found this family listed under "T", "L", "F", and "S"  *

  • “Browse” the whole census for the area your ancestors lived. Maybe names were spelled wrong or indexed wrong. 
  • Check the last pages. If households were missed or weren’t copied in the right place, they were added here. 
  • Additional notes could be added on the last page. 
  • Remember: as with all genealogical research, start from the most recent to the oldest records. So your census search most likely starts with the 1940 census. 
  • Make a photocopy of the enumeration. If possible, include the headings listed at the top of each page. Download it to save it as digital file. Can be saved to your home computer or to the cloud. 
  • If possible, verify the information you discover in primary sources, like vital records. 
  • Find a neighbor from a known census and then search for that neighbor in the lost census 
  • Gender Confusion – Enumerator might put wrong gender if confused by name/nickname – Franka 
  • M1 – means one marriage 
  • M2- more than one; two or MORE 
Special Census Records
  • 1890 Union Veterans and Widows Census 
  • Agricultural Census these special censuses, taken in 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880 lists what agricultural items were being produced in those given years. They list the number of cows, horses, pigs, and sheep as well as how much hay, corn and wheat were being grown. 
Headings from the 1850 Agricultural Census

1850 Agricultural Census for Gallia County, OHIO. My ancestor, Joshua JONSON/JOHNSON is a small
farmer compared to his neighbors, with only 40 acres.

  • Mortality Census lists deaths that occurred in the 12 months preceding the census. These were taken in 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, and 1885. 
Excerpt from the 1880 Mortality Schedule for Gallia County, Ohio.
My ancestory, John Williams is the oldest person listed, dying at the age of 84 from pneumonia.

  • Slave Census Schedules during the 1850 and 1860 censuses, slaves were counted separately. Usually these do not list individual names, but only list the age, sex and color of the person, along with the owner’s name. 
Excerpt from the 1860 Census for Alexandria, Virginia. This entry is for "R.E. Lee" - Robert E. Lee. There are 41
enslaved African Americans listed. They are listed by age, gender and color. "B" indicates Black and "M" would
indicate mulatto.


Substitutes for Census
  • State Census - some states have produced their own separate censuses 
                  Usually taken for years in between the federal censuses. 
                  Type of information collected and availability of these censuses vary
                  widely. Consult State Census Records by Ann S. Lainhart,
                  for more information.

1855 Pike County Illinois Census. Like the earlier federal census, this one only lists the head of the household
and the ages and gender for everyone else. Griffin Hedges on the last line is the family I was looking for.

1856 Jefferson County, Iowa census. Here Griffin Hedges is listed with his wife and young children.




  • City and County Directories 
                  At local libraries
                  Available from Ancestry

Johnson listings from a 1948 Directory of Medina County, Ohio.

  • Tax Lists 
              Available from online websites like Ancestry
              Published tax lists
                      Index to Ohio Tax Lists 1800-1810
                      Early Ohio Tax Records
                      1812 Census of Ohio: A State-wide Index of Taxpayers 
  • Voter Registration Lists 
              California’s registers are available on Ancestry.
               MCDL Genealogy Blog - Voters' Records


1940 Los Angeles County, Voters Registration list.
Note that Ronald Reagan is listed as a Democrat!
The 1954 Los Angeles County, California Voter's Registration.
Ronald is still a Democrat at this point. Nancy, however has a "DS" designation.
"DS" indicates that she declined to say which party she belonged to.

So dig into those census records, but be sure wring every iota of information that you can from them!



*James' wife Sarah, seems to have dropped a few years between the 1860 and 1870 Census.We would expect her age to be listed as 43-44 years old from her age on the previous censuses. While it wasn't unusual to see that people did not list their ages consistently, to lose 15 years when you should have aged 10 is really bizarre. It wasn't until I ordered James' Civil War Pension records that I found the solution. His first wife, Sarah (Sally) McComas had died shortly after the Civil War. James relocated out to Illinois and remarried to Nancy Bee. She died a year later. Then James married for a third time to another, younger woman whose first name was also Sarah!

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