Monday, June 13, 2011

Tuesday's Tip - Inputting Data on the 1810 U.S. Census

1810 U.S. Federal Census

Another in the series of inputtable census forms!  It’s time for the 3rd U.S. Federal Census, a.k.a. – the 1810 census.  Sounds a bit like a broken record right now, but I haven’t really used the 1810 census much as my earliest ancestors arrived in America in 1835 and later.  

It’s quite nice to be able to go and learn about each census as I go through and create these forms.  Not much of a difference between the 1810 and 1800 census.  The “Totals” column found at the end of some of the 1800 census sheets is found immediately following the name of the head of the household and before they tallied each age group.  Of course I haven’t gone through every copy of the census for 1810 so there may be some that match the old form identically.  I would not be surprised.


A few websites if you’re looking for information on the various censuses:

The U.S. Census Bureau - Again, not tons of information here, but it certainly gives an insight into what the census takers were instructed to do.  The outline for the 3rd U.S. census was enacted on March 26, 1810 and instructed the census taker to perform, "an actual inquiry at every dwelling house, or of the head of every family within each district, and not otherwise" and commenced on the first Monday of August that year.  The Bureau also points out that in 1812 a type of census occurred where data was collected on manufacturers and their businesses.  For more information check out their website under "Volume 2".

www.1930census.com - I don't know how I missed this site when collecting data for my other forms.  Most likely I had tunnel vision and ignored it when I saw the URL and simply assumed that Google was giving me a bad result.  Whatever the reason, this site is pretty awesome.  Not only do they give much of the same information that the Bureau gives but they've sweetened it up by providing links to historical items of interest that occurred around the period of the census, and there are maps that show what the U.S. looked like at the time of the census.  The site does claim that it's "The #1 Census Source for Genealogy & Family History".  I can't vouch for that, but I can say that I'll be using it in the future!

Lastly, Ancestry.com - Not much to say here.  We all know that they give an explanation on their site regarding the various censuses and even have printable sheets to write in the census data...of course, the inability to type your transcription in the form is the main reason I started creating my own census forms to use since most of us type faster than we write and I like having digital copies!

Once again, I've locked the form, so you don't have to worry about inputting data into the header.  You'll only be able to input into the appropriate blank fields. If you encounter any problems downloading or accessing the forms, please let me know and I will try to resolve them.  As I mentioned in previous posts, the form appears to have more pages than it actually does when you view it as a Google Document, but rest assured that when you download it to your computer it will be on page.

Next Tuesday should bring the 1820 census!  To check out the previous forms, just check out my "Tuesday's Tips" posts.  

Enjoy tending those roots!