Oklahoma Census

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

Historical Background
For information on censuses of specific Indian Tribes, see Indians of Oklahoma.

In 1819 Arkansas Territory (including what is now Oklahoma) was created from the southern part of the Missouri Territory.

1820. Some general white settlememt had started in what is now the far southeast corner of Oklahoma.undefined They were counted on the census of Miller County, Arkansas, which included parts of what is now Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. But these population schedules are lost.1

In 1828 the western boundary of Arkansas was established, separating the Indian Territory (to become Oklahoma) from what had been Arkansas Territory and including part of the southern edge of what had been Missouri Territory.2

At first, some white settlers departed when the area was set aside for the Indians. After Indian government proved effective, more whites began to settle in Indian Territory.

1830-1850. No other federal censuses were taken in present-day Oklahoma in 1830, 1840, or 1850.

1860. The non-Indians of what is now Oklahoma were counted in 1860 in what were called the Indian Lands of Arkansas Territory.3 This census does not list Indians, but lists free and slave inhabitants in the Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole nations. The slave schedules provide the names of slave owners, but not the names of slaves.

1870. No census available.

1880. All non-Indian and most Indian schedules are lost. Only the Cherokee Indian schedules survive.4

1890. The population schedules were destroyed. The special census of Civil War Union veterans and widows survives for both the Oklahoma and Indian Territories.5

In addition to the federal territorial censuses, a separate census was taken in 1890 of the Oklahoma Territory (FHL film 227,282). This includes information on the entire household but is incomplete for some areas. A card index is available at the State Historical Society. A helpful source for locating families in this census is Smith's First Directory of Oklahoma Territory: For the Year Commencing August 1st, 1890 (see the “Directories” section of this Wiki article)

1900. Oklahoma was split between Indian Territory to the southeast, and Oklahoma Territory to the northwest on the 1900 census. The following map shows modern county boundaries and the division between Indian and Oklahoma territories.

In 1907 Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory combined to become the state of Oklahoma.

'''1910, 1920, and 1930. ''' Federal censuses of Oklahoma are available, and have been indexed for each of these years.

Microfilm
1860. The "Indian Lands" (Oklahoma) non-Indian population schedules are at the very end of FHL film 803054 (M653 roll 52) after Yell County, Arkansas.3 This census and a published index are available at the National Archives — Southwest Region, the Oklahoma Historical Society, and the Family History Library.

1880. Includes transcripts of the Cherokee Nation 1880 census covering the Canadian, Cooweescoowee, Delaware, Flint, Going Snake, Illinois, Saline, Sequoyah and Tahlequah districts. Also includes census rolls of various years of Delaware Indians holding citizenship in the Cherokee Nation. FHL film 989204. Indexed on the Internet.4

1890. The Civil War Union veterans and their widows schedules are on FHL film 338235 (M123 roll 76).5

1900.  All populiation schedules for Indians and non-Indians are available on FHL film 241335-44 (T623, rolls 1843-54).6

The Family History Library has the 1900 Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory censuses, 1910, 1920, and 1930 U.S. federal censuses for Oklahoma and the soundex (phonetic) indexes for 1910 and 1920.

Many of the federal census records are found at the Family History Library, the National Archives, and other federal and state archives. The "Census" section of the United States Research Outline provides more detailed information regarding these federal records.

Indexes
1880. The Cherokee Nation 1880 Indian census is indexed on the Internet at www.accessgenealogy.com/native/cherokeecensus.php 4

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

Heritage Quest Online: http://www.heritagequestonline.com

Census Online: http://www.census-online.com/links/OK/

Genealogy Today: http://dir.genealogytoday.com/usa/ok/census.html

Access Genealogy: http://www.accessgenealogy.com/census/oklahoma.htm

Endnotes

 * 1) William Thorndale and William Dollarhide, Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1987), 275.
 * 2) Ibid., 275-76.
 * 3) Ibid., 276, and The 1790-1890 Federal Population Censuses: Catalog of National Archives Microfilm, rev. ed. (Washington, DC: National Archives Trust Fund Board, 1993), 26.
 * 4) Thorndale and Dollarhide, 277, and Family History Library Catalog entry for the title "Cherokee census rolls, 1880".
 * 5) Anne Bruner Eales, and Robert M. Kvasnicka, Guide to Genealogical Research in the National Archives, 3rd ed. (Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 2000), 37, and the Family History Catalog entry for the title "Schedules enumerating Union veterans and widows of Union veterans of the Civil War".
 * 6) Thorndale and Dollarhide, 278, and Thomas Jay Kemp, The American Census Handbook (Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources, 2001), 389, and Family History Library Catalog entry for the title "Oklahoma, 1900 federal census : soundex and population schedules".