What the Census Knows, 1790-1840

B.H. Whitcher, retired shoemaker, and my 3x Great-Grandfather.

If you know what the United States Census reports are trying to tell you, you can glean information in your journey towards fleshing out a fuller picture of your ancestors. After trolling through them for months, the information will become more clear, but even still, not all the handwriting is legible enough to discern what questions are being answered. For the next few weeks I will be sharing a breakdown of each census report, and what the columns tell you, left to right.

The first census report was taken in 1790, fourteen years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, when only men were allowed to be enumerators. It lists a total US population of 3,929,214. It’s an interesting read on its own, without ancestral context, simply to see what questions were thought to gather important information as the country grew and developed.

1790:

·         name of head of family

·         free white males 16 years and older; under 16

·         free white females, including head of families

·         all other free persons

·         slaves

1800 & 1810:

·         number of family in order of visitation

·         name of head of family

·         number of free white males under 10 years; of 10 years and under 16; of 16 years and under 26; of 26 and under 45; over 45 years

·         number of free white females, under 10 years; of 10 years and under 16; of 16 years and under 26; of 26 and under 45; over 45 years

·         number of all other free persons

·         number of slaves

1820:

·         name of the head of family

·         number of free white males under 10 years; of 10 and under 16; of 16 and under 26; of 26 and under 45; over 45 years old

·         number of free white females under 10 years; of 10 and under 16; of 16 and under 26; of 26 and under 45; over 45 years old

·         number of foreigners not naturalized

·         number of persons engaged in agriculture; persons engaged in commerce; persons engaged in manufacture

·         number of male slaves under 14; of 14 and under 26; of 26 and under 45; of 45 and older

·         number of female slaves under 14; of 14 and under 26; of 26 and under 45; of 45 and older

·         number of free male colored persons under 14; of 14 and under 26; of 26 and under 45; of 45 and older

·         number of free female colored persons under 14; of 14 and under 26; of 26 and under 45; of 45 and older

·         all other persons except Indians not taxed

1830:

·         name of the head of family

·         number of free white males under 5 years; of 5 and under 10; of 10 and under 15; of 15 and under 20 years; of 20 and under 30; of 30 and under 40; of 40 and under 50; of 50 and under 60; of 60 and under 70; of 70 and under 80; of 80 and under 90; of 90 and under 100; 100 years and older

·         number of free white females under 5 years; of 5 and under 10; of 10 and under 15; of 15 and under 20 years; of 20 and under 30; of 30 and under 40; of 40 and under 50; of 50 and under 60; of 60 and under 70; of 70 and under 80; of 80 and under 90; of 90 and under 100; 100 years and older

·         number of male slaves under 10; of 10 and under 24; of 24 and under 36; of 36 and under 56; of 56 and under 100; of 100 years and older

·         number of female slaves under 10; of 10 and under 24; of 24 and under 36; of 36 and under 56; of 56 and under 100; of 100 years and older

·         number of free colored males under 10; of 10 and under 24; of 24 and under 36; of 36 and under 56; of 56 and under 100; of 100 years and older

·         number of free colored females under 10; of 10 and under 24; of 24 and under 36; of 36 and under 56; of 56 and under 100; of 100 years and older

·         number of deaf and dumb persons under 14; of 14 and under 24; of 25 and older; number of blind persons

·         number of foreigners not naturalized

1840, same as 1830, including:

·         number of insane and idiotic persons in public or private charge

·         number of persons employed in seven classes of occupation

·         number of persons in school; number of scholars

·         number of white persons over 20 who cannot read and write

·         number of pensioners for Revolutionary or military service

You can’t tell a whole lot of detail from the information in these early census reports, except for where your ancestors were located and how big their families were. However, when we were trying to locate the parents of my ancestor Cynthia Lusk, we used information from her brother George’s life to make clues as to where they lived. We found only one Lusk in the area, and the number of children he had, male and female, would fit the siblings we knew of for Cynthia and George, and other Lusks who lived in that town in the coming generation of heads of house. A possible lead is better than no lead at all, and we took it. We were lucky to discover later that our leap was correct.

Coming next week, What the Census Knows, 1850-1890.