Census Guide

Marty and Karla Grant

[Home] [What’s New?] [Books for Sale] [Christian] [Genealogy] [Search] [Support] [About] [Contact]

Census Guide

[Genealogy Home] - [Reference Home] - Census Guide

My Book: A Guide to Using Federal Census Records 1790-1930 for Genealogy.

The U. S. Constitution calls for a Federal Census to be taken every ten years. The first one was held in 1790 and the most recent one was in 2020. However, the most recent one available for researchers is the 1950 census.

For genealogists, census records provide a valuable research tool. Although we are not allowed access to the more recent ones, the older ones provide a wonderful window into the world of our ancestors. Refer to my book (link above) for more comprehensive information and examples.

On these web pages I provide a little bit of information on each census. Census records can be found online at Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org and other sites, as well as in most major libraries either via links to the above sites or on microfilm.

1. Common census errors

2. Race and ethnicity on the census (“Race Codes”)

3. 1790 Census

4. 1800 Census

5. 1810 Census

6. 1820 Census

7. 1830 Census

8. 1840 Census

9. 1850 Census - First census to list all free persons by name

10. 1860 Census

11. 1870 Census

12. 1880 Census