Secrets of the Census, Part 5: 1880

The 1880 federal census is a turning point for family historians because, at last, we can see how people living together are related to the head of the household. Prior to this, we could only make assumptions, and too often we might be wrong! This census included questions we've seen on prior censuses, but it did not ask for value of real estate or property.

Secrets of the Census: Part 4 (1870)

From 1861 through the spring of 1865, the United States was at war with itself. By the time the Civil War ended, the nation had been torn apart; there were, by current estimates, about 700,000 or possibly more, left dead by the war, whether in combat or illness. One of the ways used to calculate that death toll was by comparing the number of men who were enumerated in 1860 to the number who were counted ten years later, in the federal census of 1870. Lots more information on this census follows.

StLGS Co-Presidents Say Thanks and Call for Help!

Our post this week is a message from StLGS co-presidents, Kathy Franke and Jeani Ward.

On Thursday, 18 September 2025, the society hosted a luncheon to thank our volunteers. Volunteer Coordinator Marilyn Brennan and her team of assistants shopped, decorated, served, and cleaned everything up afterwards so forty hungry people could enjoy a delicious lunch. The event was well-attended, and we all enjoyed a chance to get to know one another better. Our volunteers keep our organization, including the office and the website, up-to-date and running smoothly. We would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation for their efforts, especially to the volunteers who come into the office on a regular basis.

October Genealogy Meetings and Another StLGS Election

As warm as it's been everywhere, it's not feeling much like autumn, but as our year winds down, we hope you will continue to join us for our remaining 2025 meetings. For those of you who are members of StLGS, voting is now open for the election of officers for 2025. Our bylaws provide for elections of our officers in alternate years, so we never have everyone new to a job at once. This year, we will elect a vice-president for programs and a treasurer. Luckily, we have some talented and caring volunteers running for each position, and, although they are unopposed, they would appreciate your support by voting. More information about everything is below.

Secrets of the Census, Part 3

The first of June 1860––The United States was less than a year away from four years of Civil War when the 1860 federal census enumerators fanned out across the country to collect data. There were more than thirty-one million people in the U.S. by then, and the enumerators had just five months to complete their task. Although quite similar to the census that preceded it, the 1860 federal census had some striking features, and this week, we’ll take a look at them.

Secrets of the Census, Part 2

The first federal census to list all members of a household appeared in 1850, but that's not the only thing that makes this enumeration so important to genealogists. This census also asked for the birthplace of each individual, and even though they didn't always do it, enumerators in this census were to read the information they recorded back to the interviewee so errors could be corrected, adding to its accuracy. This census, and the one following it, also included Slave Schedules for southern states (although New Jersey and the District of Columbia also participated). As we mentioned in our previous post about the early censuses, there were non-population schedules during the mid-nineteenth century, and in 1850, these schedules were created for agriculture, industry and manufacturing, mortality, social statistics, and veterans. Read on for much more on this census.

Secrets of the Census, Part 1

American genealogists take for granted that we have access to our census records. We understand there are privacy limits that keep us from seeing more recent censuses, but we also enjoy almost unlimited access to all of them from the first in 1790 to the most recently released, 1950. Yes, we know that some early censuses are missing, and most of us have heard the sad story about the loss of nearly all of the 1890 census due to the effects of a fire. Those of us who remember the days of cranking microfilm or plowing through Soundex cards are luxuriating in having the census enumerations digitized and forgiving of spelling mistakes in the online indexes. We now can breeze through dozens of pages, building our families with comparative ease. But, in our eagerness to collect census information, do we spend enough time really looking at what is on all those forms? We'll take a closer look at the secrets of the census in the next few weeks, beginning with the earliest and working our way forward in time.