United States Census, 1890 - FamilySearch Historical Records

Collection Time Period
This information pertains to the census conducted in 1890.

Record History
The U.S. federal census was conducted each decade from 1790 to the present. Federal census takers called enumerators were asked to record information about all those who were in each household on the census day, which was 1 June for the 1890 census. Enumerators were allowed to distribute schedules to households and return later to pick them up completed, but the information collected was supposed to be about the people who were in the house on the census day. The enumerator was also allowed to obtain information from the person living closest to the family about absent family members. The completed forms were sent to the Census Office in the Commerce Department in Washington D.C.

Why This Record Was Created
The U.S. federal census was taken at the beginning of every decade, beginning in 1790, to apportion the number of representatives that a state could send to the House of Representatives in Congress. 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.

Record Reliability
Federal censuses are usually reliable, depending on the knowledge of the informant and the care of the census enumerator. Information may have been given to a census taker by any member of the family or by a neighbor. Some information may have been incorrect or deliberately falsified. Charges were made of fraud, including bolstering of counts by adding false names.

Record Description
The information was handwritten on pre-printed forms. The forms were divided into columns and rows. The basic census enumeration unit was the county with each county being divided into enumeration districts, one for each enumerator. The originals covered 95 to 97% of the population, over 62 million persons. However, a fire at the National Archives destroyed most of the 1890 census. The surviving records list 6,160 names which are mostly veterans schedules.

Record Content
The family or population schedules include the following information: • Full name • Race • Sex • Age at nearest birthday, if under 1 year given in months • Estimated birth year • Relationship to the head of household • Whether single, married, widowed, or divorced • Whether married during the previous year • Country or state of birth for the person • Father’s birthplace • Mother’ birthplace • Occupation • Whether soldier, sailor or marine during the Civil War, or widow of such person

The veteran’s schedules include the following information: • Full name of surviving soldier, sailor, marine, or widow • Rank • Company • Name of regiment or vessel • Date of enlistment • Date of discharge • Length of service in years, months, and days

How to Use the Record
Begin your search by finding your ancestors in the census index. Use the locator information in the index (such as page number or family number) to locate your ancestors in the census. Compare the information in the census to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to compare the information of more than one family or person to make this determination. Be aware that as with any index, transcription errors may occur.

When you have located your ancestor in the census, carefully evaluate each piece of information about them. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. For example:

• Use the estimated birth year to determine an approximate birth date. This date along with the place of birth can help you find a birth record. Birth records often list biographical and marital details about the parents and close relatives other than the immediate family.

• Birth places can tell you former residences and can help to establish a migration pattern for the family.

• Use the race information to find records related to that ethnicity such as records of the Freedman’s Bureau or Indian censuses.

• Use the naturalization information to find their naturalization papers in the county court records. It can also help you locate immigration records such as a passenger list which would usually be kept records at the port of entry into the United States.

• Use the military service information to locate their military files in the State or National Archives.

• Occupations listed can lead you to employment records or other types of records such as school records; children’s occupations are often listed as “at school.”

It is often helpful to extract the information on all families with the same surname in the same general area. If the surname is uncommon, it is likely that those living in the same area were related. Be sure to extract all families before you look at other records. The relationships given will help you to organize family groups. The family groupings will help you identify related families when you discover additional information in other records.

Some other helpful tips to keep in mind are:

• Married family members may have lived nearby but in a separate household so you may want to search an entire town, neighboring towns, or even an entire county.

• You may be able to identify an earlier generation if elderly parents were living with or close by a married child.

• You may be able to identify a younger generation if a young married couple still lived with one of their sets of parents. • Additional searches may be needed to locate all members of a particular family in the census.

You should also be aware that the census may identify persons for whom other records do not exist.

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Sources of This Collection
“United States Census, 1890” database, FamilySearch, 2010; from National Archives. “1890 Census.” United States Federal Archives and Records Center, Washington D.C. FHL microfilm. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

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