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These schedules can also be used to supplement the population censuses, to further document family relationships, and to understand better the economic status of the family and its community.
Special schedules date to the first manufacturing census of 1810. This schedule was authorized by Congress to collect better data on economic conditions and growth of the country. While efforts to collect additional data via special censuses continued from this date, they expanded after 1840. Until then, additional data was collected by adding columns to the population schedules. As this procedure became more of a problem than an aid, the 1850 census was broken down into six separate, more manageable, schedules, only one of which was the original population schedule. Special schedules created since that time include the slave census, a mortality schedule, agricultural and manufacturing schedules, and a social statistics schedule.
Slave and Native American Schedules
Early U.S. population schedules are in reality schedules only of the free white population. For example, while information on slaves was collected from the first census in 1790, not until the 1870 census were all African-Americans enumerated by name in the federal census. Until that time, only free blacks were listed. Similarly, Native Americans were not enumerated in the census if they lived on a reservation or "roamed over unsettled land" and if they were not taxed; however, Native Americans of mixed blood or those who lived among the white population were probably counted in the population schedules. The Bureau of Indian Affairs is the major Native American information source.
While the earliest population censuses included a count of slaves by category, color, and gender living in a particular residence, it was not until the 1850 and 1860 slave schedules that each slave was listed individually. Information shown for each slave included age, color, and gender. Unfortunately, the personal name is not given; nevertheless, it may be possible to derive information about individuals from these lists by careful analysis. In very rare cases the enumerator listed the slave’s name.
While slave schedules are a critical source of information on African-American families, they can also be used to document relationships among white families. For example, if an executor was responsible for slaves as part of an estate, the testator or owners may be named, thus helping to establish relationships among the white slave owners.
Mortality Schedules
The mortality schedules enumerate persons who died during the previous year. These schedules are biased since they are based on memory, but they can still be a valuable source of information. Included in the mortality schedules are the deceased’s name, age, gender, color, marital status, place of birth, and the month and cause of death. Mortality schedules are available for some states for 1850 to 1880 on CD ROM. In addition, a few of the states which conducted a census in 1885 also have mortality schedules for the previous year.
Veterans Census
Two special censuses of veterans have survived: the Revolutionary War veterans census of 1840 and the Union veterans census of 1890. The second page of the 1840 census lists Revolutionary War soldiers. There are also several printed versions of this list. Although the 1890 population schedule was mostly destroyed, sections of the special schedules of Union Veterans and their widows have survived. It appears that all the schedules for Alabama through Kansas and approximately half of those for Kentucky were destroyed before they were transferred to the National Archives in 1943. The Union veterans and widows list includes soldiers who served in the army, navy, or marine corps. For each veteran or widow, the information includes: the veteran’s rank, company, regiment or vessel, dates of enlistment and discharge, disability, and length of service.
Agriculture Schedules
Agriculture schedules were taken from 1850 to 1910; they are a rich but under-used resource for family researchers. Detailed schedules are available from 1840 to 1880, but only the summary reports of the 1890 to 1910 schedules have survived. The 1850 to 1880 agriculture census includes every farm that produced more than $100 worth of products. The schedule shows the name of the farm’s owner, information on acreage, machinery, livestock, and produce. All of the family’s activities are listed, including such activities as raising chickens and producing eggs, butter, etc. As a result, these schedules can provide insight not only into the lives of the head of the household, but also its female members and the rest of the family.
Manufacturing Schedules, 1810-1910
While early manufacturers censuses were conducted as early as 1810, continuity is spotty. For example, most 1810 manuscripts are lost. The 1820 manufacturers schedule shows owner’s name, location, number of employees, and information on equipment and products. The 1830 and 1840 schedules no longer exist; the 1830 schedule may not have been completed.
Only for 1850 and 1880 have the manufacturing, sometimes called industrial, schedules survived. They contain information about each manufacturing, mining, fishery, and other business concern with an annual gross produce of $500 or more. They give the company name and the quantity and value of materials, labor, machinery, and products. The censuses after 1880 were destroyed, with the agricultural censuses, by Congressional order; nevertheless, if your ancestor operated a business, it may be worthwhile to explore these schedules.
Social Statistics
The social statistics schedules (1850-80) are the most neglected by researchers, perhaps because its name implies that there is no individual-level data. Indeed, the schedule is primarily a summary of various social and economic indicators such as the amount of taxes collected in the district, pauperism, crime, wages, religion, and libraries. However, data of interest to the family researcher includes the names of churches, cemeteries, and social clubs, including membership counts. In the 1880 census, social service organizations and their resident populations are given by name. These schedules included those populations considered dependents of the government. For example, orphanages, prisons, paupers’ homes, homes for the aged, and asylums for the insane, blind, deaf, and mute are included, along with lists, by name, of their residents.
State Censuses
In addition to the nationwide federal censuses, many states conducted their own censuses. Some state censuses date from as early as the 1790s, others as late as the 1940s. The motivations for these censuses varied from state to state and from year to year. Where they vary from the Federal censuses, both in terms of the years they were collected and the types of questions asked, can prove to be invaluable sources of information. While a great deal of misinformation about state censuses exists, fortunately, that has been remedied by a recent publication by Ann Lainhart (Lainhart, 1992).
A number of states took advantage of the federal government act of 1879 that provided some financial support if a state undertook its own inter-decennial census. In 1885, population, agricultural, industrial, and mortality schedules were collected in Colorado, Florida, Nebraska, New Mexico, North and South Dakota, and Ohio. Finally, when an act to establish a state or territory was made, there was usually a provision for enumerating the inhabitants. (1985: 36–7).
References
Anderson, Margo J. The American Census, A Social History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988.
Lainhart, Ann. State Census Records. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1992.
National Archives and Records Administration. Guide to Genealogical Research in the National Archives. Washington DC: National Archives Trust Fund Board, 1990.
U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Age Search Information. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1986.
U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Twenty Census: Population and Housing Questions 1790—1980. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1979.
Roseann R. Hogan, Ph.D., has been researching her family since 1978. Her special interests include oral and social history.She is the author of Kentucky Ancestry (Ancestry: 1993).
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