Clues in Census Records, 1850-1890
Experienced genealogical researchers use clues found in one record to find other records about the same individual. This page describes some of the clues found in census records.
Where to Find Census Records Online:
Listings:
Use CyndisList http://CyndisList.com as a finding aid for discovering anything about censuses or anything genealogical
Free:
Family Search.Org
Heritage Quest- Available through most libraries in Texas/Texshare
Steve Morse’s Website at https://Stevemorse.org has several tools helpful to locating people on censuses, passenger records and name finding/spelling aids
Subscription:
Ancestry.com
MyHeritage.Com
Genealogybank.com https://www.genealogybank.com/explore/census/all
US GENEWEB Transcription Projects:
Free Forms:
Family Search Wiki https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/United_States_Census_Forms
Census Headings 1790-1860 https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/img_auth.php/0/0e/US_Census_Headings_1790-1860.pdf
Census Headings 1870-1930 https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/img_auth.php/b/b8/US_Census_Headings_1870-1930.pdf
Census Headings 1940 https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/1940_Census_United_States_%E2%80%93_Census_Form_Headings
Dollarhide Census Forms https://www.heritagequestonline.com/hqoweb/library/help/censusbook/Section%205.pdf
National Archives Census and Other Forms https://www.archives.gov/research/genealogy/charts-forms
Census Forms at Rootsweb.com https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~craycroftfamily/genealogy/Research_files/U_S_Census_Returns.html
Census Analysis Forms
http://www.svcgg.org/documents/census_analysis_forms.pdf
Individual Census Worksheet-To keep track of your research for an individual https://stlgs.org/media/freeforms/r137-census-wksheet-2015.pdf
Census and Other Forms at Midcontinent Library, St Louis, MO https://www.mymcpl.org/genealogy/resources/family-history-forms
Soundex
Family search Wiki about Soundex https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Soundex
Soundex Code Generator https://www.gjenvick.com/Students/SoundexCodeGenerator.html
The 1880 Census used the Soundex indexing system for locating families with children under the age of 10. Families with all members of a family all over the age of 10 had no such index until the age of computerized databases.
Census Day 1850-1890:
Census Day for each census 1850-1880 was 1 June and in 1890, 2 June because 1 June was a Sunday
Overview of the Censuses 1850-1890
After each census there were federal publications published detailing various aspects of that census. When on the following pages you are taken to for each census year below, there are links to federal compilation statistical publications for that census year. Many of them I have only seen in Federal Repository Library Collections.
1850 Census:
https://www.census.gov/history/www/through_the_decades/overview/1850.html
1860 census:
https://www.census.gov/history/www/through_the_decades/overview/1860.html
1870 Census:
https://www.census.gov/history/www/through_the_decades/overview/1870.html
1880 Census:
https://www.census.gov/history/www/through_the_decades/overview/1880.html
1890 Census:
https://www.census.gov/history/www/through_the_decades/overview/1890.html
Availability (ie. What is left) of the 1890 Census:
Fate of the 1890 Census Parts 1 and 2:
https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1996/spring/1890-census-1.html
https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1996/spring/1890-census-2.html
1890 Census at Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1890_United_States_census
More on the 1890 Census Damage:
https://blog.newspapers.com/destruction-of-the-1890-census/
Search the 1890 Census Fragments on Ancestry.com”
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/5445/
Random Acts of Kindness article on 1890 Census:
https://raogk.org/census-records/1890-fire/
Suggestions for overcoming the 1890 Census loss:
Substitutes for the 1890 Census:
https://www.genealogybranches.com/1890census.html
Summary of Information on Censuses 1850-1890
Free Population:
1850-1860 The title of the main populations schedule was the “Free Population Schedule”. It included all persons who were not enslaved, no matter their color.
Most people today are under the false impression ALL Blacks were slaves. In each of the states, including those states that later formed the Confederacy there were Blacks who were never slaves, referred to as “Free People of Color”, “FPC”, “FMC”, “FWC” . These people were enumerated on the Free Population Schedule. Slaves were enumerated as described below in the Supplemental Slave Schedules. It may also be surprising to some that some of Free People of Color owned slaves.
Name
All censuses 1850-1870 list the names of everyone in a household. While the first person in the household is understood to be the head of household, there is no such designation listed, nor is there a designation of anyone in the house as to their relationship to the imputed head of household.
The 1880 census does designate a head of household and also indicates the relationship of every person in the house to the head of household.
Beginning in 1850 through 1880 all persons in a household are listed by name.
The 1880 census states the relationship of persons in the household to the head of household.
Because relationships are not stated in the 1850-1870 censuses patriotic and other lineage type organizations usually do not accept 1850-1870 census records as proof of relationship when applying for membership in their organization.
You should use the information in censuses 1850-1870 as circumstantial evidence and look for collaborating evidence with other records such as Bible, vital records, deeds, wills, military records such as pensions, etc to back up your hypothesis
Date of birth/Age
- All censuses 1850-1880 indicate the age in years as of the census day of each individual in a household
- The 1870 census (column 13) and 1880 census (column 7) indicate the month in which the person was born, if born “within the year,” that is
- between June 1, 1869 and May 31, 1870 for the 1870 census or
- June 1, 1879 and May 31, 1880, for the 1880 census.
- While the person’s age is not an exact date of birth, it at least provides a “ballpark” figure useful for genealogical purposes:
- (1) for tracking the person from one census to the next, especially if other people have the same name, and
- (2) for locating the person in any existing vital records.
- To calculate a person’s year of birth, deduct the age from the census year
Place of birth/Nativity
- The 1850-1880 censuses indicate the person’s state, territory or country of birth, which helps narrow the geographic scope of search for the specific town or county of birth.
- 1870 Census asks if a person’s father or mother was of foreign birth
- 1880 Census asks for the place of birth of each person and that person’s father and mother
Gender/Sex
Each census 1850-1890 indicates if a person were Male (M) or Female (F)
Color
Each census 1850-1890 indicates a person’s race in the opinion of the enumerator
Usually, White (W), Black (B), Mulatto (M)
In 1870 and 1880 two more categories were added Chinese (C) and American Indian (I)
Marital Status/Civil Condition
1880 Census(Columns 9, 10, 11)Is this person Single, Married, Widowed, Divorced
Date of marriage
- The 1850 census (column 10), 1860 census (column 11), 1870 census (column 14), and 1880 census (column 12) ask if the person had married within the year.
- “Within the year” means during the year before the official census day, that is
- between June 1, 1849 and May 31, 1850, for the 1850 census;
- between June 1, 1859 and May 31, 1860, for the 1860 census;
- between June 1, 1869 and May 31, 1870, for the 1870 census; and
- between June 1, 1879 and May 31, 1880, for the 1880 census.
- The official census day was June 1 in each of these census years, although the enumerator may have visited the household at a later date.
While the censuses 1850 and 1860 do not actually request information on immigration specifically, it does ask for place of birth whether it is a state, territory, or country.
The 1870 Census asks for the place of birth of each individual in the household plus it asks if a person’s father or mother was of foreign birth.
By inspecting the places of birth in a household one can infer the migration or immigration of a family by the progression of births of parents and children as a family.
- The 1870 census (column 19) has a check mark for “Male Citizens of the U.S. of 21 years of age and upwards.
- ” If the person was a foreign-born citizen, this means that he had become naturalized by 1870.
- The same question on the 1870 , particularly in Southern States, means a male over the age of 21 has signed an Oath of Allegiance to the United States as a part of Reconstruction laws. If it is suspected a male over the age of 21 in the South may have been naturalized they 1867 Voters Lists of those states should be queried to see if it tells when, where or by whom a person may have been naturalized.
- Question (Column 20) of the 1870 Census asks if a person over age 21 has been denied the right to vote on grounds other than “rebellion or other crime?”
- These clues may lead to naturalization records.
Foreign-born parents/Nativity
- The 1870 census (columns 11-12) have check marks if the person’s father or mother were “of foreign birth.”
- The 1880 census (columns 25-26) indicate the person and the person’s parents’ birthplaces. The birthplaces may or may not be foreign.
Military Service
- Service in Union or Confederate Army or Navy
There are no questions about Military service on the 1850-1880 censuses. - However, there was a separate Special Census for Military Veterans and their spouses associated with the 1890 Census
Real Property/Personal Property
- The 1850 census (column 8) asks for the value of Real Property
- 1860 census (column 8 and 9) asks the value of one’s Real and Personal Property
- 1870 census (column 8 and 9) asks the value of one’s Real and Personal Property
- This information was not asked in the 1880 Census
- These clues should lead researchers to the county recorder’s office or equivalent agency for deeds, mortgages, and property tax records.
Occupation
- 1850 census (column 7) asks a person’s occupation
- 1860 census (column 7) asks a person’s occupation
- 1870 census (column 7) asks a person’s occupation
- 1880 census (column 13) asks a person’s occupation
- 1880 census (column 14) asks the number of months the person had been unemployed within the census year
If a person’s occupation is “farmer,” the researcher should look for information about the farmer’s land ownership, crops, and livestock in the separate 1850-1880 Supplemental Agricultural Census Schedules as well as other records at a courthouse such as deeds, mortgages and probate records
Agricultural census schedules exist for 1850-1880; manufacturing census schedules exist for 1820 and 1850-1880.
If the person was a saw or grist miller, cheese maker, or other “manufacturer,” the researcher should check the Manufacturing Census Schedules.
For more information and roll lists of nonpopulation census schedules available as NARA microfilm publications, see Nonpopulation Census Records.
Education/Literacy
1850 Census (11) ask if a person attended school in the past year (Yes/No)
1860 Census (Column 12) attended School within the year (yes/no)
1870 Census (Column 15) attended School within the year (Yes/No)
1880 Census (Column 21) Attended School with census year (Yes/No)
Literacy
1850 Census (Column 12) Asks if a person over age 20 can read or write (yes/No)
1860 Census (Column 16/17) Can not Read/ Can not Write (Yes/No)
1870 Census (Column 16/17) Can not Read/ Can not Write (Yes/No)
1880 Census (Column 23/23) Can not Read/Can not Write (Yes/No)
Health
1850-1860 Asks if a person was Deaf, Dumb, Blind, Insane, Idiotic, a Pauper, a Convict
1870 Asked was the person Deaf, Dumb, Blind, Insane or Idiotic but did not ask if the person was a pauper or convict
1880 Census – Was the person Deaf, Dumb, Blind, Insane or Idiotic. Also was, on the day of the enumerator’s visit, the person was sick or disabled so as to be unable to attend to ordinary business or duties? If so, what was the sickness or disability? Was this person maimed, crippled, bedridden or otherwise disabled? If so, you need to view the 1880 DDD (Defective, Dependent and-Delinquent) Schedule
Federal Non-Population SchedulesF
Slave Schedules 1850 and 1860 for all states having slaves
Agriculture, Mortality, and Social Statistics schedules are available for the census years of 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880.
Manufacturing schedules are available for 1820, 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880
They are arranged by state, then by county, and then by political subdivision (township, city, etc.)
These schedules can add “flesh” to the bones of ancestors and provide information about the communities in which they lived.
State Censuses
State censuses often can serve as substitutes for some of the missing federal census records – most notably the federal censuses for 1790, 1800, 1810, and 1890.
Many state censuses also asked different questions than the federal census, thus recording information that cannot be found elsewhere in the federal schedules.
While not all states took their own censuses, and some have not survived, state and local census records can be found in many locations.
Most states which took censuses usually did so every 10 years, in years ending in “5” (1855, 1865, etc.) to complement the federal census.
These state census records are most often found at the state archives or state library.