US Census >> 1790 >> Census Tips & Facts
Because of the availability of the printed 1790 census schedules, researchers tend to overlook the importance of consulting the original schedules, which are readily available on microfilm. As in most cases, the researcher who relies on printed transcripts may miss important information and clues found only in the original version.
The 1790 census records are useful for identifying localities to search for other types of records for a named individual. The 1790 census will, in most cases, help distinguish the target family from others of the same name; identify immediate neighbors who may be related; identify slaveholders; and spot spelling variations of surnames. Free men “of color” are listed as heads of household by name. Slaves appear in age groupings by name of owner. By combining those age groupings with probate inventories and tax list data, it is sometimes possible to determine names of other family members and the birth order of those individuals.
The Constitution called for a census of all “Persons . . . excluding Indians not taxed” for the purpose of apportioning seats in the House of Representatives and assessing direct federal taxes. The “Indians not taxed” were those not living in the settled areas. In later years, Native Americans everywhere were considered part of the total population, but not all were included in the apportionment figures until 1940.
The government did not provide printed forms, or even paper, until 1830. It was up to each assistant to copy his census return on whatever paper he could find and post it in two public places in his assigned area. Those who saw and could read them were supposed to check for discrepancies or omissions. The highest pay rate, two cents per person, barely covered expenses, especially where settlers were scattered and living in places that were difficult to find or access.
The jurisdictions of the thirteen original states stretched over an area of seventeen present-day states. Census schedules survive for only two-thirds of those states. The surviving schedules were indexed by state and published by the Bureau of the Census in the early 1900s. The index, Bureau of the Census, Heads of Families at the First Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1790, 12 vols. (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1908), can be found in most research libraries; it has been reprinted by various publishers over the years. This printed version contains some names not available on the microfilm, including several counties in North Carolina.
Both the original and printed 1790 census schedules are available on microfilm for Connecticut, Maine (then part of Massachusetts), Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Vermont. The schedules for Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Virginia were burned during the War of 1812. (There are substitutes for most of these.) Published and microfilmed 1790 schedules for Virginia were reconstructed from state enumerations and tax lists.
The United States was the first country to call
for a regular census. This makes the 1790 census the oldest national
census
Vermont did not become a state until March 4, 1791, so the
state’s 1790 census was taken on April 4, 1791
President during census: George Washington
George Washington delivers the first “State of the Union Address” on January 8, 1790
Supreme Court convenes for the first time on February 1, 1790
Benjamin Franklin dies on April 17, 1790
Washington DC is established as the capital in 1791
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