Searching Census Records Part 3

Last week, we discussed the inconsistencies often found in census records. Today, we continue our census series with a discussion on the nuances found in various census years. For reasons I assume are related to the social and political climate at the time, the information collected during the census changes. Let’s tackle these nuances by category.

Home Ownership- most years of the census indicate if a family owns or rents their property. In some cases the value of this property or amount of rent is also provided. This is especially interesting in the 1870 and 1880 censuses following the end of slavery. To see families acquire property after being held as property is a beautiful transition.

Immigration- In 1870, inhabitants are asked if their parents are foreign born. In 1880, the birthplace of inhabitants and parents are detailed. In 1900, the year of immigration to the US is recorded, in addition to the birthplace of parents. 1910 is mostly the same as 1900. In 1920 we have a continuation of the prior immigration info but now we also have access to the mother tongue for each inhabitant and parent. These details continue in 1930, but are moved to supplementary questions in 1940, and are only asked of 2 people per page.

Marriage- The marital status of all inhabitants is recorded from the 1880 census until the current year. In 1900, we gain number of years married, which continues into the 1910 census. This is awesome if you are unable to find a marriage record. This column unfortunately does not persist and is not seen in 1920. In 1930, we see a new column that details the age at first marriage. This can be especially telling. You may not realize that an ancestor has had multiple marriages until you see that their age at first marriage doesn’t match the age the entered into the current marriage. If you are able to find your ancestors in 1900-1930, you will have a fairly complete marriage history for them.

Fertility- The 1900 and 1910 censuses give us a glimpse into possible fertility issues for ancestors. Both censuses ask number of children born to a mother and number of living children. This accompanied with records of stillbirth or maternal death shortly after birth can give an indication of pregnancy related challenges. I have seen a number of times where a couple is married for an extended time before their first child. When we reach the 1900 or 1910 census, it can sometimes become apparent that they bore other children but those children died. This information is extremely valuable but is only recorded for these 2 censuses.

I wish the questions were consistent, but they aren’t. It can be very frustrating to want a piece of information that you know is on a particular census, but not be able to find your family in that year. Hopefully you find this to be helpful. Join us next week as we wrap up our census series and talk about some of the supplementary census schedules.