United States Census Slave Schedules

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

Availability
The National Archives has retained and microfilmed all of the original manuscripts for applicable states.

Slave schedules were kept for: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia.

Ancestry has schedules for 1850.

Historical Background
1850-1860--Slaves were enumerated separately and usually only numbered, not named.

Content
City, town, or subsidtrict of slave owner Name of slave owner Number of slaves listed by age, sex, color Fugitive Manumitted (freed) Deaf, dumb, insane, or idiotic

Value
Name -- Sometimes an enumerator chose to list the first names of individual slaves. Each countywide slave schedule must be searched to see if there are names of slaves or not.

Number -- of slaves enumerated could help determine if the owner had a plantation or not, and its size.

Indexes
Few slave schedules have been indexed. Ancestry has indexes for 1850.

Web Sites
Ancestry.com (1850): http://content.ancestry.com/

Biographic Citations

 * Dollarhide, William. The Census Book: A Genealogist's Guide to Federal Census Facts, Schedules and Indexes. (Bountiful, Utah: Heritage Quest, 1999.) FHL Book 973.X27d.
 * Szucs, Loretto Dennis and Wright, Matthew. Finding Answers in U.S. Census Records. (Orem, Utah: 2001 Ancestry) FHL Book 973 X27s.