Did you know that every US census is available on the Internet? You can access censuses from the earliest, taken in 1790, through the most recently released • the 1930. In addition to scanned images of microfilm copies, genealogical companies have generated indexes to complement each of these records. As never before, family historians can tap the treasure trove of US resources from the comfort of their own home.
Beginning in 1790, the US government called for censuses every ten years. Tragically many of the 1790 and 1800 censuses have been destroyed. In addition, several states, such as Tennessee, did not begin taking censuses immediately after achieving statehood. Washington, D.C. admitted Tennessee into the union in 1796, but the first statewide census does not occur until 1820. Census substitutes, constructed by genealogists from tax lists and other sources, help elucidate uncounted residents. Also, beware that the 1890 Census, with the exception of a few scattered remnants, is inexistent.
Two chief websites house the images of the United States population: Ancestry (www.ancestry.com) and Heritage Quest (www.heritagequestonline.com). These sites require subscriptions, but can be freely accessed at many public libraries (in particular Heritage Quest) and LDS Family History Centers (Ancestry). For Ancestry's census searches, the fee is $19.95/month or $99.95/year. For additional details regarding the Heritage Quest database, visit www.heritagequest.com. Individuals wishing to conduct extensive census research should consider purchasing these and the other valuable services provided by these companies. The following is a year-by-year breakdown of where to currently find censuses and indexes:
Year Ancestry Heritage Quest
1790 AB AB
1800 AB AB
1810 AB AB
1820 AB AB
1830 AB
1840 AB
1850 AB
1860 ABC A*
1870 ABC AB
1880 ABC
1890
1900 A AB
1910 AB AB
1920 AB AB
1930 ABC A*
Legend:
A • Census images
B • Head of household index
C • Every name index
* • Partial index
Many non-profit websites also contain transcriptions of US census records. Sites such as USGenWeb Census Project (www.us-census.org), Cyndi's List (www.cyndislist.com/census.htmand), and Census Finder (www.censusfinder.com) can point genealogists towards free websites. Since volunteers do not type as quickly as paid employees, these projects lack complete coverage. If you are lucky, you may find censuses applicable for your research. Realize that one pitfall in using them involves lack of accompanying digitized images (which are available on the pay-per-view sites) necessitating trust in the lady or gentleman transcriber. In addition, the 1880 US Federal Census appears transcribed and fully indexed at Family Search (www.familysearch.org).
