Working with Census Records from 1790 -

1860

Including Using the 1850 and 1860 Slave Census records

Objective

•Show how we can best use these Census Records to gather information on our ancestors

Handouts

•Using the handouts (blank census forms from 1790 to 1860 available at http://www.ancestry.com/download/Forms )

•Some Census records have different column headings and placements

•Census column headings sometimes do not appear on previous or following censuses

What Do These Census Records Tell Us?

• From 1790 – 1840 only heads of families are listed• Other family members are listed by tick marks according to gender and age• It’s an advantage to know something about members of the family going in

•Other things we can observe• Migrations of Families• Neighbors (problem when listed alphabetically)

• Relatives or future relatives• Marriages• Maiden name of wife

• Missing people from one census to the next• Marriages?• Death?

What Else Do Some Census Records Tell Us?

• Additional information • Slaves• Free colored persons• Aliens• Infirmities • Schools• Employment category• Pensioners for military services• Foreigners not naturalized

Make A List of The Span for Each Census Date

• Age Chart for the 1820 Census• Under age 10 = born 1811-1820• Age 10 and under 16 = born 1805-1810• Between age 16 and 18 = born 1802-1804 (males only)• Age 16 and under 26 = born 1795-1804 (16-18 year old

males will also be listed here)• Age 26 and under 45 = born 1776-1794• Age 45 and upwards = born 1775 and before• (Slaves and Free Colored Persons have different age

groupings)

1800 – 1850 Census for Joel Brown

Headstone for Joel BrownHeadstone for his spouse, Ann Barnes

Note that there are no column headings. This is where the blank census forms are useful for extracting data.

On this 1810 census, the column headings provide no useful information, so once again, use the blank forms. Also be careful to pull the data from the same row even though the data slants down across the page.

This 1820 census goes across two pages. While there are headings on this page, it is easier to use the blank form to extract data.

The 1830 census also goes across two pages.

1830 Page 2

1840 Census

1840 Page 2

• Based on what she already knew about the family, Sister H was able to extract the adjacent information about the Joel Brown and Ann Barnes family from 1800 through 1850.

Hughes and Price Families in Kentucky and Missouri

William Evans Price Martha Swan Hughes

The second half of the lesson was following the Price and Hughes families through the census years.

1870 Census

• In the 1870 Census, all people including former slaves are enumerated by name

• Often they are living next to their former owners and, perhaps, working for them as hired hands

• The following page shows the changes to the families, their land and property, from 1860 to 1870 (before and after the Civil War)

• The page after that shows the migration of William and Martha’s children.

Family 1860 1870 1880+

Land Property Land Property

Joseph Swan Hughes, Cassandra Gill Price and Children

8,100 20,000 He died 1863She died 1868

Malvina & Allen Hughes 6,000 10,185 He died 1860She moved to St. Louis

**Martha Swan/ William Evans Price (children listed next slide)

8,000 2,700 He died 1864She died 1865

Zoan Courtney/Mary C. Head no record he d.1866

she d.1851

Caroline Matilda Price/James Fisher Finks

24,500 21,340 28,000 4,000 H

Overton Lafayette no record

Louisa/Thomas Lewis 5,200 6,535 7,000 1,000 V

Mary Frances/May Burton Collins 20,150 19,790 0 he died in 1864 2,000 H

William Joseph/Lucy T. Cornelia Collins 8,400 12,500 10,000 2,000 H

Mary Louisa Died young

Children of Martha Swan Hughes and William Evans Price

Marriage(s) 1870 Land 1870 Property

1880+

John G. Price No record

Joseph Hughes Price Md 1st 1865 (Chariton County)Md 2nd 1874

1,000 1,200 Ended up in So. Missouri

Susan Price Died 1860

William Evans Price No record

Mary Swan Price/Bird Martin md. 1869 she died 1870 

he left the area

Arthur Price md.  1st 1868md. 2nd 1875

1600 400 H

Alvin Price/Rhoda Button md. 1879 in Circleville, Piute, Utah

1900: Colorado

**Eugene Walter Price/Sarah Melissa Davis

md. 1884 in Junction, Piute, Utah

Stayed in Utah

Paul Prebble Price/Emily Francis Morrill

md. 1878 in Piute, Utah with Arthur 1870

1900 in Colorado

Cassandra Ann Price/James Patterson 

md. 1878 1880 in Chariton MO, 1900 in CO** See family photograph of Eugene Walter, Sarah Melissa, and children on following page.

This is the home left behind in Missouri.

Loa Price Harris Home in Junction, Utah