General Strengths and Limitations of Census Records

Few, if any, records reveal as many details about individuals and families as do the U.S. federal censuses. The population schedules are successive “snapshots” of Americans that depict where and how they were living at particular periods in the past. Census records since 1850 suggest dates and places of birth, relationships, family origins, changes in residence, schooling, occupations, economic and citizenship status, and more.

Once home sources have been exhausted, the census is often the best starting point for genealogical research. The availability of statewide indexes for almost every census year makes them logical tools to locate individuals whose precise residence is unknown. While some inaccuracies are to be expected in census records, they still provide some of the most fascinating and useful pieces of personal history to be found in any source. If nothing else, census records are important sources for placing individuals in specific places at specific times. Additionally, information found in the census will often point to other sources critical to complete research, such as court, land, military, immigration, naturalization, and vital records.

The importance of census records does not diminish over time in any given research project. It is always wise to return to these records as discoveries are made in other sources because, as new evidence about individuals is found, some data that seemed unrelated or unimportant in a first look at the census may take on new importance.

When family, vital, or religious records are missing, census records may be the only means of documenting the events of a person’s life. Vital registration did not begin until around 1920 in many areas of the United States, and fires, floods, and other disasters have destroyed some official government records. When other documentation is missing, census records are frequently used by individuals who must prove their age or citizenship status (or that of their parents) for Social Security benefits, insurance, passports, and other important reasons.

Problems Created at the Time the Census Was Taken

When evaluating any source, it is always wise to consider how, when, and under what conditions the record was made. By examining how enumerations were conducted, it becomes easy to understand why some individuals cannot be found in the census schedules or in the indexes to them.

From the first enumeration in 1790 to the most recent in 2000, the government has experienced difficulties in gathering the precise information it desired for a number of reasons. At least one of the problems experienced in extracting information from individuals for the first census continues to vex officials today: There were and still are many people who simply do not trust the government’s motives. Many citizens have worried that their answers to census questions might be used against them, particularly regarding issues related to taxation, military service, and immigration. Some have simply refused to answer enumerators’ questions; others have lied.

Boundaries

In the days before regular mail service, government representatives conducted door-to-door canvasses of their appointed districts. Supervisors subdivided districts using existing local boundaries. The town, township, military district, ward, and precinct most often constituted one or more enumeration districts. Boundaries of towns and other minor civil divisions, and in some cases of counties, were ill defined, so enumerators were frequently uncertain whether a family resided in their or an adjoining district. For this reason, it is not unusual to find individuals and families listed twice in the census and others missed entirely.

Over the years, state, county, township, and city ward boundaries have changed. Any census search can be thrown off by these changes and inconsistencies. Maps of boundaries changes,

Related Reading: William Thorndale and William Dollarhide, Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1987).

Census Restrictions

 

To protect the privacy of living individuals, access to population schedules is restricted for seventy-two years after the census is taken, so they are not available to researchers during that time. The Personal Service Branch, Bureau of the Census, P.O. Box 1545, Jeffersonville, IN 47131, will provide, for a fee, official transcripts of census records from 1940 to 2000. Access is restricted to whomever the information is about, their authorized representatives, or, in the case of deceased persons, their heirs or administrators. Use Form BC-600 to request information.

Missing Censuses

 

According to most authorities, the 1790 census schedules for Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Virginia were burned during the War of 1812. Some records, such as the 1790 records for Virginia, have been reconstructed from state enumerations and tax lists. In later enumerations, city blocks, neighborhoods, townships and sections of townships, and even entire counties are known to be missing from the census schedules, simply because no census was taken in the particular area in a given year or because they were lost before they reached Washington, D.C.

Probably the most noted loss of the federal enumerations is that of the 1890 census. Most of the 1890 schedules were destroyed in a fire in the Commerce Department in 1921.

False Census Entries

 

Another confusing situation can arise in census research when names show up in a district where they do not belong—sometimes more than once! According to Arlene Eakle, Ph.D., “padding the totes,” or adjusting the census for political reasons, was not uncommon. “Frontier areas, anxious for statehood, often added bogus names. In 1857, seven counties in Minnesota had wild population totals, complete with fake names on the schedules. Jurisdictions facing increased taxes might also understate their populations to keep overall per capita taxes lower. The 1880 Utah census juggled households to disguise polygamy at a time when federal officials were seeking evidence for the prosecution of those convicted of unlawful cohabitation.”

Missing Persons

 

Bogus entries may have been a frustration in some times and places, but a far greater problem in every census year has been that of undercounting. Whether families or individuals were not counted because they lived in remote areas or because they would not tolerate an enumerator’s personal questions, millions have been missed since official government census-taking began. While no stone should remain unturned in the search for an individual in the census, the unfortunate truth is that a significant portion of the population has been missed entirely.

Suggested Census Reading

 

Census CD's

• 1607-1789 Census Index: Colonial America : This CD-ROM contains approximately 391,000 census records gathered from early U.S. territories over a span of 182 years.
• Census Index: U.S. Selected Counties, 1800
• Census Index: U.S. Selected Counties, 1810

General Books

• Your Guide to the Federal Census: For Genealogists, Researchers, and Family Historians by Kathleen Hinckley (Author)
  Your Guide to the Federal Census acts as a personal "research assistant" for the beginning genealogist. Census Basics examines the nuts and bolts of census records and the types of information available. Finding Census Records and Indexes reveals where to view the censuses online and off, and how to find most ancestors quickly and easily. Using the Census offers step-by-step instructions covering nearly every scenario for tracing family histories in census records. Also included are case studies, appendices, and a glossary of census terms.
• State Census Records by Ann S. Lainhart (Author)
  State censuses rank with federal censuses as a major genealogical resource, but, because they were taken randomly, remain a much under-utilized resource in American genealogy. State censuses not only stand as substitutes for some of the missing 1790, 1800, 1810, and 1890 censuses (as well as many county and statewide enumerations lost or destroyed between 1790 and 1890) but also as valuable population enumerations in their own right. Many state censuses, for example, asked different questions than the federal census, so they record information that cannot be found elsewhere in federal schedules. Ann Lainhart's inventory of state census records is the only comprehensive list of state census records ever published. State by state, year by year, often county by county and district by district, she shows the researcher what is available in state census records, when it is available, and what one might expect to find in the way of data. In this way Ms. Lainhart has removed one of the last uncharted territories in American genealogy, opening up a range of fresh opportunities for the researcher.
• Finding Answers in the U.S. Census by Loretto Dennis Szucs (Author), Matthew Wright (Author)
• The Census Book: A Genealogist's Guide to Federal Census Facts, Schedules and Indexes by William Dollarhide (Author), James A. Derheim (Photographer)
• The American Census Handbook by Thomas Jay Kemp (Author) Sale Price: 32.95 (Reg. 99.00)
  Though the U.S. federal population census is an essential source for family history research, searching the microfilmed handwritten schedules can be very time consuming and tedious. Census indexes, therefore, are very valuable, significant, and timesaving research aids. Noted author, genealogist, and chair of the Genealogy Committee of the American Library Association, Kemp has pulled together a wealth of information to help readers identify published indexes currently available for federal and other censuses up to and including the 1920 federal population census. Print, CD-ROM, and online titles are included, but indexes published in journals are not. The text is arranged in three sections: by year, general subjects, and geography. The year listings include general U.S. and regional indexes, while the general subjects section includes items concerning ethnic groups and military personnel and their families. The most extensive portion of the book is the geographical section, in which the author identifies numerous statewide and county indexes for each state. This section greatly expands the countywide index listings in William Dollarhide's The Census Book (Heritage Quest, 1999), which includes only those indexes at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City prior to 1986. Kemp has produced a most useful and extensive guide for researchers and librarians.
• American Population Before the Federal Census of 1790 by Evarts Greene (Author), Virginia D. Harrington (Author), Columbia University Council for Research (Corporate Author)
  This is an exhaustive survey of the population lists, estimates, and statistics that were produced in the American colonies before the first federal census of 1790. The population lists, which are of paramount importance to the genealogist, include poll lists, tax lists, taxables, militia lists, and censuses, and were originally drawn up for purposes of taxation and local defense. Gleaned from archives in Britain and the U.S. and from a wide range of published sources, their itemization in this work puts colonial population records in a handy framework for research, much like Ann Lainhart's work on post-colonial population records below. Coverage, by the way, isn't confined merely to the original thirteen colonies, but includes population lists from territories such as the Illinois Country, Kentucky and Tennessee, and the northern and southern Indian Departments.
• Local Census Listings 1522-1930 by Jeremy Sumner Wycherley Gibson and Mervyn Medlycott (Paperback - Jun 1992)
• Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920 by William Thorndale and William Dollarhide (Paperback - Jan 2000)
  The county has always been used as the basic Federal census unit. Genealogical research in the census, therefore, begins with identifying the correct county jurisdictions. This work shows all U.S. county boundaries from 1790 to 1920. On each of the nearly 400 maps the old county lines are superimposed over the modern ones to highlight the boundary changes at ten-year intervals. Also included are (1) a history of census growth; (2) the technical facts about each census; (3) a discussion of census accuracy; (4) an essay on available sources for each state's old county lines; and (5) a statement with each map indicating which county census lines exist and which are lost. Then there is an index listing all present-day counties, plus nearly all defunct counties or counties later re-named. With each map there is data on boundary changes, notes about the census, and locality finding keys. There also are inset maps that clarify territorial lines, a state-by-state bibliography of sources, and an appendix outlining pitfalls in mapping county boundaries. The detail in this work is exhaustive and of such impeccable standards that there is little wonder why this award-winning publication is the number one tool in U.S. census research.

State Books

• Tennessee