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Tables
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Useful links
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Table 1. Brief History of the Census
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Background
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The U.S. census has been
taken every ten years since 1790, following adoption of the U,S.
Constitution, which provided for taking the census in its first
article. The intent was to provide a legislative body with the number
of members from each state representative of its population.
(And, of course to use for tax matters...) |
The Census
in the
Constitution
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Article I. Section 2 - House of
Representatives
The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every
second Year by the People of the several States, …
(Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the
several States which may be included within this Union, according to
their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the
whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a
Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all
other Persons.)
The actual Enumeration shall
be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress
of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years,
in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. …
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1790
The First Census
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In March 1790, president
George Washington signed the first census act, and Secretary of State
Thomas Jefferson sent a copy to each of the seventeen U.S. Marshals to
be implemented.
The First Census of the United States was a small volume -- a 56 page
summary. The total population of the United States in 1790, exclusive
of slaves, as derived from the schedules, was 3,231,533. The only names
appearing upon the schedules, however, were those of heads of families,
and as at that period the families averaged 6 persons, the total number
was approximately 540,000, or slightly more than half a million. [The
full data showing individual heads of households was not available to
the general public until an act of Congress in 1907.]
In March, 1790, the Union consisted of twelve states: Rhode Island, the
last of the original thirteen to enter the Union, being admitted May
29. Vermont, the first addition, was admitted in the following year,
before the results of the First Census were announced. Maine was a part
of Massachusetts, Kentucky was a part of Virginia, and the present
states of Alabama and Mississippi were parts of Georgia. The present
states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, with part
of Minnesota, were known as the Northwest Territory, and the present
state of Tennessee, then a part of North Carolina, was soon to be
organized as the Southwest Territory. |
Additional Data added
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As the nation grew, the
census changed from a simple count of inhabitants as additional data
were incorporated in each new census. |
Burned Schedules
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The 1790 schedules for
Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Virginia were
casualties of the British burning of the Capitol during the War of
1812. While these schedules contained about 30 percent of the total
enumerations, they covered closer to half of our ancestral residences.
Substitutes have been constructed, primarily from state tax lists, but
they lack the household figures. |
A
note about the 1820
census
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The 1820 Census has
caused many a family historian to spend a considerable amount of time
hunting a male that didn't exist or to follow the wrong family because
of the age breakdown columns. The 1820 census added a column for Males
16-18 years of age.
What is not readily apparent to the family historian is that any males
listed in this column are also listed in the 16-26 column. The
government wanted an idea of the number of males that could qualify for
military duty so the additional column for males 16-18 was included on
the census form.
The instructions for the US Marshals for the 1820 census says: "It
will be necessary to remember, that the numbers in the columns of free
white males between 16 and 18 ... must not be added to the general
aggregates ... the number will be repeated in the column of those
between 16-26"
Reference:
Linda Haas Davenport's excellent notes on the census
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A note about the 1890
census
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The
1890 population schedules were destroyed in a fire in Washington, DC in
January, 1921. The story of this tragedy is described in detail on the
NARA website:http://www.archives.gov.
A few isolated fragments survive. |
Table 2. Data in each census year 1790 to 1840
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The early census
data contained the name of the head of the household, plus the numbers
of the following: |
1790
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1800
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1810
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1820
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1830
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1840
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Free white males
under/over 16 years old
Free white females
Slaves owned |
Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Free white persons
in five or more specified age groups |
No
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Slaves in specified
age groups |
No
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No
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No
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Foreigners, not
naturalized |
No
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No
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No
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Yes
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Yes
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No
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Deaf, dumb and
blind; insane/idiotic; literacy |
No
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No
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No
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No
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Yes
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No
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Name and age of
each person receiving a military pension
Persons attending school |
No
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No
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No
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No
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No
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Yes
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Table 3. Availability of Population
Schedules 1790 to 1840
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State |
Statehood
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1790
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1800
|
1810
|
1820
|
1830
|
1840
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Delaware |
1787
|
No
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
|
Yes
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New Jersey |
1787
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No
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No
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No
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No
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Yes
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Yes
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Pennsylvania |
1787
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
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Connecticut |
1788
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
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Georgia |
1788
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
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Maryland |
1788
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
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Massachusetts |
1788
|
Yes
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Yes
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Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
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New Hampshire |
1788
|
Yes
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Yes
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Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
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New York |
1788
|
Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
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South Carolina |
1788
|
Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
|
Yes
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Virginia |
1788
|
No
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No
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Yes
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Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
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North Carolina |
1789
|
Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
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Rhode Island |
1790
|
Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
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Vermont |
1791
|
Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Kentucky |
1792
|
No
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No
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Tennessee |
1796
|
No
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No
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Fr
|
Yes
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Yes
|
Yes
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District of
Columbia |
1800
|
Yes
|
Yes
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No
|
Yes
|
Yes
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Yes
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Ohio |
1803
|
-
|
No
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No
|
Yes
|
Yes
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Yes
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Louisiana |
1812
|
-
|
-
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Indiana |
1816
|
-
|
No
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No
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Mississippi |
1817
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-
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No
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No
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Illinois |
1818
|
-
|
-
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Alabama |
1819
|
-
|
-
|
-
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No
|
Yes
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Yes
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Maine |
1820
|
Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Missouri |
1821
|
-
|
-
|
No
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No
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Yes
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Yes
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Arkansas |
1836
|
-
|
-
|
-
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No
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Yes
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Yes
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Michigan |
1837
|
-
|
-
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No
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Florida |
1845
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Yes
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Yes
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Iowa |
1846
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-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
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Yes
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Wisconsin |
1848
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-
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-
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-
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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-
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State
or Territory did not exist, or no census was taken. |
No
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Census
was taken, but schedules were destroyed. |
Yes
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Schedules
are available for most counties. |
Fr
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Fragments
only exist
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Family
Tree DNA was created for serious amateurs and professional
genealogists who wish to extend their family trees by confirming a link
where no conventional source records have been found. |
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Cyndi's List -- a categorized &
cross-referenced index to genealogical resources on the Internet. |
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Gary Minder's
electronic spreadsheets for organizing, archiving, preserving and
sharing U.S., English, Irish, Scottish, and Canadian census records. |
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Ancestry often
offers a 14 day free trial of their completely indexed US Census images. |
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Genealogy.com
also offers a 14 day free trial of their extensive databases. If you
decide to sign up, they give FamilyTreeMaker for free. |
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Detailed comments and history for each decade's census: |
http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/census/
http://www.segenealogy.com/_descriptions/census.htm
http://www.records.org/census.html [broken link Oct 2003]
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~haas/learningcenter/censusrecords.html |
Maps of the areas covered by each census: |
http://www.negenealogy.com/ngo03.htm
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Some of the online data for the census: |
http://www.censuslinks.com/
http://www.censusrecords.net/
http://www.census-online.com/
Census
records search Search for your ancestors in US Census records. |
Sources: |
Guide to Genealogical
Research in the National Archives- 1985 Edition
Greenwood, Val "The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy" 2nd
Edition.
"The Source - A Guidebook of American Genealogy" Ancestry 1997 Edition
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