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 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.