Genealogy Tools: Reading and Understanding Census Reports

by Steven J. Dugan

If Alex Haley’s saga, Roots, lit the fire for Americans to study their family histories in 1976, then the internet poured “the proverbial fuel on the genealogy fire” 20 years later when Ancestry.com uploaded its first genealogical records online. There are some 30 billion records now available on websites like Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, Genealogy Bank, and others, that include birth, death, and marriage records; military records; immigration and travel records; voter registration rolls; and probably the most viewed of all genealogical records—the United States Census.

The Constitution requires an enumeration (census) of all residents in the country every 10 years for allotting representatives in Congress to the states and for tax purposes. It appears, however, that listing the names, countries of birth, ages, genders, marital status, education, and other information from Americans was not part of the original plan for the US Census. Fortunately for family historians, Congress exceeded its Constitutional mandate in 1790 to simply count the states’ populations, to include listing the heads of household by name and categorizing everyone by age and gender. The information collected has evolved through the years.

American genealogists from beginners to professionals generally find the United States’ decennial census an indispensable tool while conducting their research. Census reports provide researchers with a regularly compiled record of the growth of American society (and our ancestors) throughout the years. As our country grew and the need for a more accurate record of U.S. citizenry evolved, so did the information that was collected on the census reports.
This evolution included expanding the questions to reflect the changes going on with the country, whether it was listing pensioners of war veterans, everyone’s place of birth, or how many children women have given birth to. What follows is a brief summary of the history of the United States Census.

From 1790-1840, the census only named heads of households, the number of free white males and females by ages: <10, 10-15, 16-25, 25-44, and 45 and older. Also listed were “all other free persons”, and finally all slaves, by total numbers only (no names or relations). This is called a “checkmark” or tally census. For the 1830 Census, questions were added to list all persons who were deaf and dumb (mute), all persons who were blind, and all unnaturalized alien residents. The 1840 Census kept the original six questions, deleted the extras from 1830, and added the following: the occupation of all residents, if anyone was in school, how many over 21 are literate, all who are insane, and the names and ages of any Revolutionary War pensioners.

For the 1850 Census, significant changes were made. First, it lists everyone’s name from each family. The other info collected was the age, gender, color (race), profession, and place of birth for every American. This information was the same for the 1860 and 1870 censuses. Information collected for the 1880 Census includes: the country of origin for everyone’s parents, the relationship to the head of household, everyone’s occupation (not just men), and everyone’s literacy (not just those over 21).

The 1890 Census will always be the “one that got away,” and it was quite extensive. For this census, each family had their own sheet, instead of the door-to-door format of the previous census reports. Because of this new design, there were 30 questions that were asked for each family, ranging from country of birth, age, occupations, and questions about home ownership, just to name a few. Unfortunately, most of the census reports were destroyed when the Commerce Building storing the records caught fire. Some fragments remain, and if a genealogist finds any of these records intact, it is a rare occurrence. General information for the population of jurisdictions can be found in reports, but the individual detail is mostly lost.

The census reports from 1900-1930 are considered the most informative of all reports. In addition to the information collected from 1850-90, these reports list the month and year of birth of every American, their age at their last birthday, the number of years they have been married, the year they arrived in the United States, their naturalization status, and how many children each mother has given birth to and the number of children still living. These four census reports, needless to say, have been the most helpful to all genealogists.

The information collected for the 1940 and 1950 census reports reflects the changing times in American history that occurred in the aftermath of World War II and the beginnings of the Cold War. The information collected for both included the usual biographical questions (name, year/place of birth, age, address, relationship, etc.) but added the enumeration of all military personnel, crews on vessels, and government employees (and their families) living abroad. Also listed was the employment status of everyone age 14 and over. Perhaps this was a post-Depression inspired question. In exchange, however, some of the information previously collected had to be deleted. First, there’s no information on how many children a woman has given birth to, and the state/country of birth for everyone’s parents was also omitted.

The 1940 enumeration added supplemental questions of the 15th and 28th person on the page, which included questions about where one’s parents were born, info on wages earned (14 and over), and military status of all American males. In the example shown here, neither Thomas nor Gabriela Temple (whose portrait is the featured image for this post) were listed on those line(s) to qualify for the extra questions. The 1950 census added more lines for these extra questions, beginning with line #4 and every 5th line afterward (see example below). And while genealogists don’t have that information for everyone as in previous reports, the supplemental questions are still full of valuable information.

One important, final piece of advice. Always look at the actual census document if it’s available online. The transcription that usually accompanies each listing is very convenient (and helpful), but it relies on human transcriptions (and possibly AI in the future), and it is always possible that errors were made. Looking at the actual document will allow you to confirm the transcription or correct any errors you might find. The document may also lead you to other relatives, especially if they lived near the ancestor you’re originally researching.

If you’re interested in studying family history and learning how to read and understand US Census Reports and more, we invite you to attend “It’s All Relative,” the Homestead’s recurring genealogy workshop. In these sessions, we cover the basics of genealogy research, such as collecting and organizing facts and discovering the places you can find information both online and in person. Participants will also get a chance to perform live, online research to put a few of the tools learned in the workshop to use.

The workshop is free, and reservations are highly recommended. The workshop is limited to 20 participants and spots are reserved by registering online. Currently the class for June 22, but please check back on our website, www.homesteadmuseum.org, for future sessions.