United States Census, 1790 - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
The collection consists of an index to the population schedules listing the inhabitants of the United States in 1790. This was the first national census conducted in the United States. This index is provided by Ancestry.com.

The schedules for some counties are missing in the 1790 census and no schedules are known to exist for the following states in 1790:


 * Delaware
 * Georgia
 * Kentucky
 * New Jersey
 * Tennessee
 * Virginia.

This census (1790) provides names for heads of household, for about 10 to 15 percent of the population, and provide only a number count for the others.

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information published in FamilySearch.org. Source citations include the author, custodian, publisher and archive for the original records.

Suggested citation format for a record in this collection.

Record Content


The 1790 census includes the following genealogical information:


 * State, county and city in which census was taken
 * Name of head of household/family
 * Number of free white males 16 years and older
 * Number of free white males 16 years and under
 * Number of free white females 16 years and older
 * Number of free white females 16 years and under
 * Number of all other persons living in household
 * Number of slaves in each household

How to Use the Record
To begin your search it would be helpful to know:


 * Your ancestor's name
 * Some other identifying information such as where they lived or their age.

Search the Collection
To search the collection fill in the requested information in the boxes on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the individuals in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person.

You may need to look at the information on several individuals comparing the information about them to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names, or variations of their name, throughout their life.
 * If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names.
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line video at FamilySearch Search Tips.

Using the Information
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Save a copy of the image or transcribe the information. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details. Add this new information to your records of each family. You should also look for leads to other records about your ancestors. For example:


 * Use the age categories to determine an approximate birth date range.
 * Use the residence to locate other records such as land, probate, tax, and church records.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * You should follow the family through each available census. Again, carefully evaluate each piece of information about them. Be aware that spellings of names may change from record to record.
 * 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. Put the information you know into family groupings. The family groupings will help you identify related families when you discover additional information in other records.
 * 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.

General Information About These Records
Federal census takers were asked to record information about every person who was in each household on the census day, which was the first Monday in August for 1790. A census taker might have visited a house on a later date, but the information he collected was supposed to be about the people who were in the house 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 Commerce Department’s Census Office in Washington, D.C.

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.

Population schedules consisted of large sheets with rows and columns. The schedules were arranged by place, such as township or post office. The places were not filed in any particular order. The arrangement of families on a schedule is normally in the order in which the enumerator visited the households. The original schedules are well preserved at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. They were microfilmed in the 1950s and 1960s. The schedules for some counties in varying censuses are missing.

Related Websites

 * 1790 Census Questions
 * Census Finder

Related Wiki Articles

 * United States Census 1790

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should also list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the Wiki Article: How to Cite FamilySearch Collections.

Citation Example for a Record Found in This Collection
"United States Census, 1790," database and digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XH2M-D2X : accessed 4 April 2012), Alpheas Harmon (Rupert, Bennington, Vermont). National Archives, United States Federal Archives and Records Center, Washington, D.C., United States.