United States Census, 1880 - FamilySearch Historical Records

This wiki article describes a collection that is available for free online at FamilySearch Record Search – Pilot Site. To access the collection, see 1880 United States Census

Collection Time Period
The U.S. federal census was conducted each decade from 1790 to the present. This document includes information about the 1880 census.

Collection History
Federal census takers were asked to record information about all the people who were in a household on the census day, which was June 1 for the 1880 census. A census taker might have visited the residence on a later date, but the information collected was to have been about the people in the residence on the census day. The basic census enumeration unit was the county. Each county was divided into enumeration districts, one for each enumerator. The completed forms were sent to the Census Office of the Commerce Department in Washington, D.C. The schedules cover 95 to 97 percent of the population.

Why This Collection was Created
The U.S. federal census has been taken at the beginning of every decade, beginning in 1790, to apportion the number of representatives a state could send to the House of Representatives. In the absence of a national system of vital registration, many vital statistics and personal questions were asked to provide a statistical profile of the nation and its states.

Collection Reliability
Federal censuses are usually reliable, depending on the knowledge of the informant and the care taken by the census enumerator. Realize that any family member or even a neighbor may have supplied information to the census taker. Some information may have been incorrect or deliberately falsified.

Collection Description
Population schedules were recorded on large sheets with rows and columns. The schedules are arranged by state, county, place, and enumeration district. The districts are not always filed in sequential order. The arrangement of families on a schedule is usually the order in which the enumerator visited the households.

Collection Content
The 1880 census includes the following genealogical information:


 * Full name
 * Race
 * Sex
 * Age (can be used to calculate an approximate birth year)
 * Birth month, if born during the previous year
 * Relationship to the head of household
 * Marital status (single, married, widowed, or divorced)
 * Whether married during the previous year
 * Birthplace (country or state) of the individual and the parents (included even if the parents were not members of the household)
 * Occupation
 * Street address and house number

How To Use The Collection
The U.S. federal census is the best source for quickly identifying a family group and residence. The census identifies other persons in the household and tells how they are related. Use an individual’s place of residence, birth state or country, and age to search for other types of records. The census records may identify persons for whom other records do not exist.

Related Article
United States Federal Census