United States Census 1890

Additional information may be found on the United States Census Portal page.

Content
1890—destroyed/damaged by fire, in Commerce Dept. 1921. 1% survived, 6,160 individuals.

1890 Census was taken beginning 1 June 1890, for two weeks to thirty days. The following information was recorded by the census taker:

address, number of families in the house, number of persons in the house, and number of persons in the family. Individuals are listed by name; whether a soldier, sailor, or marine during the Civil War; and whether Union or Confederate or whether the widow of a veteran; relationship to head of family; whether white, black, mulatto, quadroon, octoroon, Chinese, Japanese, or Indian; sex; age; marital status; whether married during the year; if a mother, number of children and number living; place of birth of the individual and his or her father and mother; if foreign born, how many years in the United States; whether naturalized or in the process of naturalization; profession, trade, or occupation; months unemployed during census year; ability to read and write; ability to speak English; if not, language or dialect spoken; whether suffering from acute or chronic disease (if so, name of disease and length of time afflicted); whether defective in mind, sight, hearing, or speech; or whether crippled, maimed, or deformed (with name of defect); whether a prisoner, convict, homeless child, or pauper; whether the home is rented or owned by the head or a member of the family (if so, whether mortgaged); if the head of family was a farmer, if he or a family member rented or owned the farm; and, if mortgaged, the post office address of the owner.

1790-2000 Info: http://www.census.gov/prod/2000pubs/cff-2.pdf

Value
The 1890 census can be used to:1

1850-1930 Search Tips: http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/census/1850-1930.html

Unique Features and Problems
1. Listed the address of the individual 2. Listed if a person was a soldier, sailor, or a marine during the Civil War 3. Listed whether they were Union or Confederate 4. Listed whether they were a widow of a veteran 5. Listed, if a mother, the number of children she had and how many were living 6. If foreign born, the individual was asked how many years they had been in the United States and if they    were naturalized or in the process of being naturalized 7. Lists what language the individual speaks 8. Lists number of months employed 9. Asks if the home is rented or owned (and mortgaged) 10. Listed individuals in Army forts, US vessels, Navy Yards, &amp; prisons. 11. Most schedules destroyed by fire in 1921 12. Special 1890 schedules enumerating Union veterans &amp; their widows from the Civil War are sometimes used as    a census substitute.

States Covered and Missing
Alabama Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

1890 Surviving schedules-- The following population schedules have survived for the 1890 federal census:

  Alabama--Perry County, Perryville beat number 11 and Severe beat number 8. District of Columbia--Q. Thirteenth, Fourteenth, R.Q. Corcoran, Fifteenth, S.R. and Riggs streets,                                Johnson Avenue, and S Street                       Georgia--Muscogee County, Columbus Township                       Illinois--McDonough County, Mound Township.  Minnesota--Wright County, Rockford Township.          New Jersey--Hudson County, Jersey City                       New York--Suffolk County, Brookhaven Township and Westchester County, Eastchester Township.  North Carolina--Gaston County, South Point &amp; River Bend Townships and Cleveland County,                                   Township No. 2                       Ohio--Hamilton County, Cincinnati and Clinton County, Wayne Township                       South Dakota--Union County, Jefferson Township                       Texas--Ellis County, J.P. No. 6, Mountain Peak and Ovilla Precinct                                  Hood County, Precinct No. 5                                  Rusk County, No. 6, J.P. No. 7                                  Trinity County, Trinity Town and Precinct No. 2                                  Kaufman County, Kaufman

Check ancestry.com for the database of the 1890 Census Substitute.

Territories

 * Arizona
 * Alaska
 * New Mexico
 * Oklahoma(unorganized)
 * Utah

Web Sites
1790-2000 Info: http://www.census.gov/prod/2000pubs/cff-2.pdf

1850-1930 Search Tips: http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/census/1850-1930.html

Ancestry.com: http://www.ancestry.com/

Bibliographic Citations
1. Szucs, Loretto Dennis and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking. The Source: A Guide book to American Genealogy. 3rd ed. (Provo, UT: Ancestry, 2006.)