Find your Ancestors through Census Records

There are other countries that conducted census records prior to 1790, but the United States was the first nation to mandate a census in the Constitution. Article One, Section Two states that at least every ten years an “actual Enumeration” needs to be taken of the population.  This has enabled genealogists, with the single most sought after document, to gain information about their family heritage. 

In 1790, Federal Marshals had the job of visiting every house and recording their findings. The first census only contained six questions: name of the head of house, number of persons in the household, number of free white males over the age of sixteen, numbers of free white males under the age of sixteen, and the sexes and colors of everyone in the household. Since then every decade had produced another census. Each census has improved with more information making it easier to trace your ancestors.

Over the years, the census has changed according to what issues were important to our ancestors at the time. By 1820, the census did take into account women and “free colored persons” to show how our economy was expanding. By 1850, the census contained “social statistics;” which gives us insight to schooling that people had obtained, crime in that time period, and taxes. Later “Enumerations” reflect many turns that America was taking with the increasing number of immigrants. The 1900 census asks if foreign born, year of immigration and whether they have the ability to speak English or not. In 1920 the year of naturalization was polled.

The United States census can help you discover facts about your ancestors and fill in missing event information, helping to build your family tree. Among the information you can discover: birth dates, birth places, place of residence, occupations, income, immigration years, naturalization status, and more.  Another benefit of using the census is finding families, giving the genealogist the ability to add missing ancestors, such as children and grandparents.   

Censuses are available as Population Schedules.  There are also Special Census Schedules that included: slave schedules, state records, agricultural schedules, mortality schedules, manufactures, social statistics, defective classes, and others are available.  The state and mortality censuses just might help you with tracing your ancestors.  Mortality schedules were recorded 1860, 1870, and 1880.  Census takers were directed to secure additional information for persons dying with the 12 months preceding the census taking.  For each person, the following information is listed: name, age, sex, marital status if married or widowed, state or country of birth, month of death, occupation, cause of death, and the length of the final illness. These schedules may be the only record of death for some individuals, as many states did not require recording of deaths until the late nineteenth century. In addition, gravestones or cemetery records may be nonexistent.

Some Noteworthy Tips

When looking for your ancestor, remember to look for them using different spellings.  Many Census takers often wrote the name the best they could with the way it sounded.  And people, who have indexed online databases, have erroneously made mistakes in recording names and information too.

If you are looking at copies of microfilms, don’t overlook the other people on the same page or the page before or after your ancestor.  Many times, relatives lived in the same household, or within houses from each other.  

Counties grew and developed over time either as land was expanded or by changing of boarders.  This can be of importance to finding other ancestors and documents that are often filed by county such as Wills, Taxation lists, and Deeds.

The 1890 census records are almost completely destroyed and others have been lost. The best place to find what is available for each county is through Family Search, you can also use our guide below for general state information.

When you find a person you are looking for, remember there often is the same name, living in the same area.  Verify the information belongs to your ancestor before you record the source and its details.

The 1940 census will be made available to the public on April 1, 2012 by the National Archives and Records Administration.

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