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Recording Census Data
By Arlene Jennings, CG
When you locate a census record that answers a question you
are researching or that you need to save for further evaluation, it is important
to make a photocopy of the census page and also to copy out the data from the
page by hand. The former because we easily overlook or misread information on
first use, and the latter because photocopies fade over time.
On the face of both sheets it is essential to record the
source of the data, for documentation and to facilitate locating it again. For
1790-1840 this includes name of head of household, census year, complete
location identification, page and line numbers, NARA micropublication number and
roll number. For 1850-1870 we also need the dwelling and family numbers. For
1880-1920 we also need the enumeration district and supervisor’s district.
Examples:
Joseph Hart household, 1790 U. S. census, Warminster
Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, page 151, line 22, National Archives
micropublication M637, roll 8.
David Marple household, 1850 U. S. census, Bucks County,
Pennsylvania, population schedule, Warminster township, page 122, dwelling
152, family 163, National Archives micropublication M432, roll 759.
John Jennings household, 1880 U. S. census, Osage County,
population schedule, city of Burlingame, enumeration district 28, supervisor’s
district 2, sheet 19, dwelling 150, family 151, National Archives
micropublication T9, roll 391.
There are a number of forms available which replicate the
layout of the census and others which are designed as analytical tools. At the
Archives reference desk you can purchase forms for each census year from
1790-1920 for 15¢. In The Bookstore you can purchase William Dollarhide’s The
Census Book from which you can copy forms or print them directly from the
enclosed CD. (The Census Book is also available in the Microfilm Research
Room for your reference.) You can copy the 1790-1930 census forms including the
1890 Veterans Census; 1850 and 1860 Slave Schedules; 1850-1880 Mortality
Schedules; 1880-1930 Soundex Extraction Forms; and U.S. Census Comparison Sheets
for 1790-1840 and for 1850-1930. The Bookstore also has a form “Records of
Federal Censuses Searched” for tracking research activity and a “Census
Comparison” chart designed by volunteer, Jack Powell, which summarizes on one
sheet data on the members of a household from 1790-1920.
Census forms can also be found on-line, downloaded and printed from
http://www.familytreemaker.com/00000061.html.
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