United States Census 1860

Indexes and Images
For an article about 1860 census population schedules available for free online at FamilySearch Historical Record Collections see the U.S. Census Population Schedules, 1860 Wiki page. Ancestry.com (subscription site) has indexes and images of all 1860 federal censuses. HeritageQuestOnline.com (subscription site) has indexes and images of all 1860 federal censuses.

Also, there are articles about the 1860 mortality schedule indexes, and 1860 slave owner schedule indexes free online as part of FamilySearch Record Search. Ancestry.com has those mortality and slave owner indexes and images online for a subscription fee.

A free Internet census index and images to the 1860 census can be viewed on the FamilySearch Record Search. This index shows every name listed on the census and is linked to census images including information about each person’s residence, age, birthplace, occupation, other family members, and neighbors.

For more details, see individual state census Wiki pages. For tips if the first census index search does not work, see the United States Census Searching Wiki page.

Content
The 1860 Census was taken beginning 1 June 1860, for five months. The following information was recorded by the census taker:

Population Schedules


 * Name
 * Age
 * Sex
 * Color
 * Occupation males over 15


 * Value of real estate
 * Value of personal estate
 * Birthplace—state/terr./country
 * Married during year
 * Deaf-mute, blind, insane, idiot, pauper, convict

Slave Schedules


 * Name of slave owner
 * Number of slaves owned
 * Number of slaves manumitted (released from slavery)
 * NO NAME OF SLAVES


 * Age, color, sex
 * Deaf-mute, blind, insane, idiotic?
 * Fugitive from state?
 * Number of slave houses


 * Clues in Census Records, 1850-1940

Value
The 1860 census can be used to:


 * Find free population/slave pop. &amp; mortality, agriculture, industry data
 * Identify families by name
 * Identify birthplaces which helps w/immigration
 * Identify ages —go to vital records
 * Identify real estate—land and tax records
 * Identify probable relationships—be careful!
 * Identify occupations/property value
 * Identify possible remarriages/step relationships

Clues in Census Records, 1850-1940

Unique Features and Problems

 * 1) First time “value of personal estates” was asked (Note: Individuals may have hesitated to answer correctly because they were taxed accordingly.)
 * 2) Country of Birth: Instead of just Great Britain or Germany places were to be more specific: ex: England, Ireland, Prussia, Baden, etc.
 * 3) Personal estate—first time
 * 4) Enumerator to make 2 additional copies:
 * 5) Clerk of county court
 * 6) Secretary of state/territory

States and Territories Covered
States


 * Alabama
 * Arkansas
 * California
 * Connecticut
 * Delaware
 * District of Columbia
 * Florida
 * Georgia
 * Illinois
 * Indiana
 * Iowa
 * Kentucky
 * Louisiana
 * Maine
 * Maryland
 * Massachusetts
 * Michigan


 * Minnesota
 * Mississippi
 * Missouri
 * New Hampshire
 * New Jersey
 * New York
 * North Carolina
 * Ohio
 * Oregon


 * Pennsylvania
 * Rhode Island
 * South Carolina
 * Tennessee
 * Texas
 * Vermont
 * Virginia (inc. West Virginia)
 * Wisconsin

Territories


 * Dakota (unorganized)
 * Indian (non-Indians included with Arkansas)
 * Kansas (portions of Colorado)
 * Nebraska (inc. parts Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, North &amp; South Dakota)
 * New Mexico Territory (inc. Arizona)
 * Utah (inc. Nevada, Colorado, Washington)
 * Washington Territory (inc. Idaho, western Montana, Wyoming

Missing Records

 * No States Missing

Where to Find the Records
The 1860 Federal Census is available online.

Online


 * 1860 Census rolls in PDF Format (Archive.org) (free, but difficult to use. See note below.)
 * 1860 United States Federal Census (Ancestry) ($)
 * Census - US Federal 1860 (Fold3) ($)
 * (FamilySearch) - index and images


 * For the 1860 slave schedules see U.S. Census Slave Schedules.

To use the Archive.org copy of the 1860 Census, look up the person you're looking for in the FamilySearch Index. Look up where the record is from (State &amp; County), then use that to identify which Roll (in PDF format) to look in. There should be a page number in the index. It's not very convenient, but it works.

Alternatively, try this formula to build the address URL using FamilySearch record data:


 * Find the "GS Film Number" which looks like this, for example: 803590
 * Now, keep the last three digits: 803590 becomes 590
 * This is the FFF number.
 * Find the "Image Number" which looks like this, for example: 00280
 * Now, strip off the leading zeroes: 00280 becomes 280
 * This is the PPPP number (and can be 1 to 5 digits).

Insert the digits you just found into the following address in place of the FFF and PPPP characters: http://archive.org/stream/populationscheduFFFunit#page/nPPPP/mode/1up For example, using the above numbers, we get this: http://archive.org/stream/populationschedu590unit#page/n280/mode/1up Copy and paste that into a browser address bar and press enter. You will likely have to scroll up a page or two or three to find the right page. Use "Page" and "Household ID" data from the FamilySearch record to more easily find the right page and entry.

Websites

 * Clues in Census Records, 1850-1940