2. • Census records are among the most rich and rewarding family history
records available. Depending on which census your ancestor is in, you
can learn where he or she lived at a particular place or time, learn his
or her place of birth, and what he or she did for a living, among many
other bits of valuable information. With the advent of scanning and
indexing technology, census records are now available online, making
this incredible resource available to more people than ever.
3. Census History
• The first U.S. Federal Census was taken by Constitutional mandate in
1790, and was to take place every ten years. The purpose of the
census was to determine the representation of each state in the
House of Representatives. However, data from recent censuses are
not available after 1940 because of a 72-year restriction on access to
the Census.
4. 1790 – 1840 Census
• 1790 – Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North
Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina ,Vermont
• 1800 – Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York , North Carolina,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky,
New Jersey, Tennessee, Virginia
• 1810 – Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina,
Vermont, Virginia1820 – Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia,
Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi
New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania
Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia
5. 1820 – Alabama, Delaware , District of Columbia , Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South
Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia
White Inhabitants, Slave Inhabitants. Free Colored Inhabitants
1830 – Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine,
Maryland* (Some counties missing), Massachusetts* (Some counties missing), Mississippi* (Some counties missing),
Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Vermont
White Inhabitants, Slave Inhabitants, Free Colored Inhabitants, Categories for deaf, dumb, and blind
1840 – Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana
,Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York
North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont
Territories – Florida, Iowa, Oregon, Wisconsin
White Inhabitants, Slave Inhabitants, Free Colored Inhabitant, Name of pensioners for Revolutionary or military
services, Number of persons employed in each of six classes of industry and one of occupation, Number in school,
Number in family over 20 who cannot read & write
6. 1850 and 1860 Census
• Names of every person in the household.
• Name; age as of the census day; sex; color; birthplace;
occupation of males over age fifteen; value of real estate;
whether married within the previous year; whether deaf-mute,
blind, insane, or "idiotic"; whether able to read or write for
individuals over age twenty; and whether the person attended
school within the previous year.
• No relationships were shown between members of a household
7. 1870 Census
• Added from the 1850 and 1860 census
• Age at last birthday (children under one, months of age were to be stated)
• Profession
• Occupation or trade of every adult in household
• Whether mother and father were of foreign birth
• Who could not read and write (whole household)
8. 1880 Census
• The 1880 census was the first to identify an individual’s relation to the
head of household. In addition, the 1880 census was the first to
identify the state, county, and other subdivisions; the name of the
street and house number for urban households; illness or disability at
the time the census was taken; marital status; number of months
unemployed during the year; and the state or country of birth of
every individual’s father and mother.
9. 1900 Census
• Names of every person in the household. Enumerators were asked to
include the following categories in the census: name; address;
relationship to the head of household; color or race; sex; month and
year of birth; age at last birthday; marital status; number of years
married; the total number of children born of the mother; the
number of those children living; places of birth of each individual and
the parents of each individual; if the individual was foreign born, the
year of immigration and the number of years in the United States; the
citizenship status of foreign-born individuals over age twenty-one;
occupation; whether the person could read, write, and speak English;
whether the home was owned or rented; whether the home was on a
farm; and whether the home was mortgaged.
11. Information about Census
• 1880 and 1940 Census are free on Ancestry
• Census Records except images for the 1880 and 1930 on
Familysearch.org
• Black Forms are available on Ancestry
• Websites: http://www.myfreecensus.com/
12. UK Census Collection
• England, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man,
covering every decade from 1841 to 1911
• Census are very similar to the US, black forms are also on
Ancestry.com
• Can’t find any free U.K. Census online, however you can view UK
census at Familysearch.org family center’s.
• Website: http://www.myfreecensus.com/
• (also other Country's too)
13. 1890 Veterans Schedules
• The 1890 veterans schedules provided spaces for the following
information: names of surviving soldiers, sailors, and marines, and
widows; rank; name of regiment or vessel; date of enlistment; date of
discharge, length of service; post office address; disability incurred;
and remarks.
• Blank Forms are available on Ancestry.com
14. 1850 and 1860 Census - Slave Schedules
• Slaves were enumerated separately during the 1850 and 1860
censuses, though, unfortunately, most schedules do not provide
personal names. In most cases, individuals were not named but were
simply numbered and can be distinguished only by age, sex, and
color; the names of owners are recorded. However, some
enumerators listed the given names of slaves, particularly those over
one hundred years of age. These names are generally found in the
"name of slave owners" column.
• The slave schedule was used in the following states: Alabama,
Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland,
Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Texas, Virginia.
15. Mortality Schedules 1850-1885
• Questions asked in the mortality schedules:
• Deceased's name
• Sex
• Age
• Color (White, black, mulatto)
• Whether widowed
• Place of birth (state, territory, or country)
• Month in which the death occurred
• Profession, occupation, or trade
• Disease or cause of death
• Number of days ill
• Parents' birthplaces (added in 1870)
• Place where disease was contracted and how long the deceased was a resident of the area (added in 1880)
16. Agricultural Schedules
• Agricultural schedules of 1850, 1860, and 1870 provide the following
information for each farm: name of owner or manager, number of improved
and unimproved acres, and the cash value of the farm, farming machinery,
livestock, animals slaughtered during the past year, and "homemade
manufactures." The schedules also indicate the number of horses, mules,
cows, working oxen, other cattle, sheep, and swine owned by the farmer. The
amount of oats, rice, tobacco, cotton, wool, peas and beans, Irish potatoes,
sweet potatoes, barley, buckwheat, orchard products, wine, butter, cheese,
hay, clover seed, other grass seeds, hops, hemp, flax, flaxseed, silk cocoons,
maple sugar, cane sugar, molasses, and beeswax and honey produced during
the preceding year is also noted. The 1880 schedules provide additional
details, such as the amount of acreage used for each kind of crop, the number
of poultry, and the number of eggs produced.
17. Manufacturing Schedules
• Manufacturing schedules in 1820, 1850, and 1860 reported the name
of the manufacturer; the type of business or product; the amount of
capital invested; the quantities, kinds, and value of raw materials
used; the quantities, kinds, and value of product produced annually;
the kind of power or machinery used; the number of men and
women employed; and the average monthly cost of male and female
labor. The amount of detail reported in these schedules increased in
1870 and again in 1880. In 1880, supplemental schedules were also
used for specific industries, such as for boot and shoemaking, lumber
and saw mills, flour and grist mills.
18. Social Statistics Schedules
• Social statistics schedules provide information about the ancestor's community.
In 1850 through 1870, these schedules indicate for each political subdivision
the value of real estate; annual taxes; number of schools, teachers, and pupils;
number and type of libraries and the number of volumes they have; name,
type, and circulation of newspapers; the types of church denominations, the
number of people each church can seat, and the value of their property; the
number of native and foreign-born paupers and the cost of supporting them;
the number of native and foreign-born criminals convicted and in prison; and
the average wages paid to farm hands, day laborers, carpenters, and female
domestics. Note that these schedules provide only statistical data, not
information about specific individuals. In contrast, the 1880 schedules of
delinquent, defective, and dependent classes provide information about deaf,
dumb, blind, and criminal persons who are listed by name.
19. More Special Census Records
• State
• Merchant Seaman 1930
• New York inmates in almshouse and poorhouse 1830 – 1920
• Puerto Rico 1935
• Indiana Census 1880
• Indiana rolls 1885 - 1940
21. American Wars
• Revolutionary War
• War of 1812
• War of Texas Independence
• Mexican War
• Civil War
• World I and II
• Korean War
• Vietnam War
22. Revolutionary War Records
Revolution War Rolls 1775-1783
Record types contained in this collection include:
• Muster rolls
• Payrolls
• Strength returns
• Misc., personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units
• Manuscript register of the series
23. Records are arranged into three categories
• Individual states (Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North
Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, and
Virginia) – includes records for Continental Army units raised in the
state; state militia and volunteer units
• Continental Troops - includes records for Continental Congress
specialized units; Continental Congress infantry regiments organized
from resolutions of 1776; Continental Army units raised in multiple
states
• Miscellaneous – includes records for units larger than a regiment;
special returns not easily classified into another category
24. Pensions
• In the years of and following the Revolutionary War, the federal
government provided three main types of pensions for servicemen:
• Disability or invalid pensions for soldiers physically disabled in the line of
duty
• Service pensions awarded on the basis of time served
• Widows’ pensions for women who lost husbands during the war or whose
husbands met specific service requirements
25. The first pension law in 1776 granted half-pay for life to soldiers
disabled in the service and unable to earn a living. The first pension
law based on service was passed in 1818, but it was later amended to
make eligible only those soldiers unable to earn a living. The pension
act of 1832 allowed pensions again based on service and made
widows of veterans also eligible to receive pension benefits.
The files can contain a wide variety of records submitted to support
an application. Information of genealogical interest includes the
application itself, which can provide the soldier’s name, rank, unit,
time of service, age, date of birth, residence, and sometimes
birthplace. A widow’s application may also include her maiden name
and date and place of her husband’s death.
26. About American Revolutionary War Rejected Pensions
During America's struggle for freedom, thousands of men fought for
the colonial government and many received pensions or bounty land
grants for their service. This database is a listing of men who applied
for a pension but were rejected. It was originally published in 1852 and
was an expanded version of a book published in 1838. Each record
provides the applicant's name, state and town of residence, and the
reason their petition was denied. It contains the names of over 8600
individuals. For researchers of Revolutionary War ancestors, this can be
a helpful database.
27. Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900
• Bounty-land warrants assigned rights to land in the public domain to
soldiers who met eligibility requirements related to their service.
• 1776 resolution provided the following land grants to men who
served until the end of the war:
• noncommissioned officers and soldiers, 100 acres
• ensigns, 150;
• lieutenants, 200; other officers
• Colonel up to 500 acres
A November 1800 fire apparently destroyed Revolutionary War pensions and bounty-land-
warrant applications and papers related to them submitted before that date. Some files thus
contain cards noting that further papers are not available.
28. War Bounty Land Warrants, 1789-1858
This database contains bounty land warrants issued to veterans of the
U.S. Revolutionary War between 1789 and 1833, and to veterans of the
War of 1812 between 1815 and 1858. It also contains some related
papers of the Revolutionary War warrants that date to as late as 1880.
Bounty land warrants were certificates given to eligible veterans
granting them rights to free land on the public domain.
Veterans were offered a total of 6 million acres of bounty land in
Arkansas, Illinois, Michigan, and later, Missouri.
29. Historical Background
During the Revolutionary War the Continental
Congress promised bounty land as an
inducement to military service. For this war and
other wars in which the United States engaged
during the years 1812-1855, the issuance of
bounty land warrants to veterans or their heirs
as a form of reward for service was continued
31. War of 1812 Service Records, 1812-1815
• When the United States declared war on Great Britain in 1812,
Congress authorized the President to accept and organize volunteers
in order to win the war. This database is a listing of men mustered
into the armed forces between 1812 and 1815. Taken from records in
the National Archives, each record includes the soldier's name,
company, rank at time of induction, rank at time of discharge, and
other helpful information. It provides the names of nearly 600,000
men. For researchers of early American ancestors who may have
served in the military, this can be a helpful source of information.
32. War of 1812 Pension
• This database contains an index to War of 1812 pension application files. Pensions were applied
for and granted to War of 1812 veterans or their survivors.
• The application files indexed in this collection relate to claims of military service between 1812
and 1815. Most of the applications were filed as a result of acts instated in 1871 and 1878. These
acts made it possible for veterans and their survivors to receive pensions based on service alone.
Earlier acts provided pensions only for service related deaths or disabilities.
• This index consists of the fronts of the envelopes containing the actual pension applications.
These envelopes are arranged alphabetically according to surname of applicant. The amount of
information shown on the front of the envelope varies. However, the following information is
generally provided:
• Name of veteran
• Name of widow, if she applied
• Pension claim or file number(s)
• Service type or organization
33. Acts Providing Pensions for Service Alone:
The act of 14 February 1871 granted pensions to surviving soldiers and sailors
who had served 60 days in the War of 1812 and had been honorably discharged, or
to those who had been personally named in any resolution by Congress for specific
service of less than 60 days. The widows of such soldiers and sailors were eligible
for pension provided the marriage had taken place before the treaty of peace was
ratified on 17 February 1815.
The act of 9 March 1878 provided pensions for surviving soldiers and sailors of the
War of 1812 who had served for 14 days or in any engagement and had been
honorably discharged and for their surviving widows. It made no proviso regarding
the date of marriage.
34. Compiled Military Service Records (CMSR)
• A CMSR is as complete as the surviving records of an individual soldier or his unit.
The War Department compiled the CMSRs from the original muster rolls and
other records some years after the war to permit more rapid and efficient
checking of military and medical records in connection with claims for pensions
and other veterans' benefits. The abstracts were so carefully prepared that it is
rarely necessary to consult the original muster rolls and other records from which
they were made. When the War Department created CMSRs at the turn of the
century, information from company muster rolls, regimental returns, descriptive
books, hospital rolls, and other records was copied verbatim onto cards. A
separate card was prepared each time an individual name appeared on a
document. These cards were all numbered on the back, and these numbers were
entered onto the outside jacket containing the cards. The numbers on the jacket
correspond with the numbers on the cards within the jacket. These numbers
were used by the War Department only for control purposes while the CMSRs
were being created; the numbers do not refer to other records regarding a
veteran nor are they useful for reference purposes today.
35. Civil War Pension Index
• Because these pension files were for federal benefits, this collection only
contains the names of Union veterans
• Requirements for a pension varied according to congressional amendments
after the original 1862 legislation. Each amendment extended the benefits
by more liberal terms. Veterans, widows, parents, and minor dependents
were eligible for pensions under certain conditions, and each was required
to file an application. The files contain much military service and family
information. Included are a declaration by the claimant, a statement of
service from the War Department or the Navy Department, a personal
history questionnaire, a family questionnaire, and affidavits by comrades-
in-arms, relatives, and neighbors attesting to the validity of the claimant's
declarations.
36. Confederate Service Records, 1861-1865
• The agencies listed below are repositories for Confederate pension
records. The veteran was eligible to apply for a pension to the State in
which he lived, even if he served in a unit from a different
State. Generally, an applicant was eligible for a pension only if he was
indigent or disabled. In your letter to the repository, state the
Confederate veteran's name, his widow's name, the unit(s) in which
he served, and the counties in which he and his widow lived after the
Civil War. Some repositories also have records of Confederate Homes
(for veterans, widows, etc.), muster rolls of State Confederate militia,
and other records related to the war.
• See Flyer for information on state Information.
37. Confederate Service Records, 1861-1865
Confederate Applications for Presidential Pardons, 1865-1867
• This database contains records of Confederate soldiers who served in
military organizations that were formed by the Confederate
Government.
• On May 29, 1865, President Johnson issued an amnesty
proclamation. Under this proclamation any former Confederate who
had not already taken advantage of President Lincoln’s 1863 amnesty
proclamation, could receive amnesty, upon their taking an oath to
defend the Constitution and the Union, and to obey all Federal laws
and proclamations in reference to slavery made during the rebellion.
38. Colored Troops Military Service Records, 1863-1865
• This database contains compiled military service records for United
States Colored Troops that volunteered to serve with the Union in the
American Civil War. Though some African-American units had been
raised and seen fighting prior to this, President Lincoln did not
authorize the use of colored troops in combat until 1863, after the
Emancipation Proclamation. The Bureau of Colored Troops was
established by the United States War Department in May 1863 and
was responsible for recruiting African-American soldiers to fight.
About 175 regiments composed of 178,000 African-American troops
served the Union in the final two years of the Civil War.
39. Civil War Prisoner of War Records, 1861-1865
• This database contains records relating to Civil War Prisoners of War
(POW).
40. Federal or Union POWs that were held by Confederate authorities at Camp Sumter, Andersonville, Georgia
between February 1864 and April 1865. Records contained in this series include:
Register of departures of prisoners from Andersonville
Register of admittances to the prison hospital (original and copy)
Register of prisoners confined at the prison hospital
Register of prisoners’ deaths and burials (original and copy)
Burial lists of prisoners
Lists of prisoners claiming reimbursement for money taken from them by Confederate authorities
Consolidated monthly strength reports of prisoners (original and copy)
Series of provision returns of the prison hospital
Name index to the original hospital register of admittances
Partial name index to one of the burial lists
41. Confederate POWs that were held by Federal authorities at various prisons and stations from 1861 to
1865.These records are arranged in three sections: (1) records of POWs and political prisoners (2) records
of individual prisons and stations, and (3) records of several prisons. Records contained in this series
include:
Registers of prisoners
Registers of deaths of prisoners
Registers of prisoners’ applications for release and decisions
Descriptive lists of prisoners and deserters
Register of prisoners ordered to be released
Register of applications made for release of prisoners
Register of unclaimed money and valuables belonging to prisoners
Permits granted by the Commissary General of Prisoners for clothing for the prisoners
Lists of prison camp records received
Letters sent and received
Numeric report of prisoners received, transferred, paroled, released, and deceased
Register of Confederate and Federal soldiers and civilians sentenced
Register of prisoners discharged and released
Register of prisoners transferred and escaped