-----Original Message----- From: Saffold <saffold@pineland.net> To: GEORGIA-L@rootsweb.com <GEORGIA-L@rootsweb.com> Cc: FLORIDA-L@rootsweb.com <FLORIDA-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Saturday, August 01, 1998 10:09 AM Subject: VALUABLE INFORMATION: 1790 FEDERAL CENSUS, ETC. > >"THE 1790 CENSUS: A BRIEF HISTORY" >by Loretto D. Szucs > >In March 1790, President Washington signed the first census act. >The census was first taken to determine the apportioning for >congressional representation and it is the primary reason for >taking the modern-day census. Thomas Jefferson, who was Secretary >of State at the time, sent a copy of the law to each of the 17 >U.S. marshals and instructed them to take the census. On August >2, 1790, 208 years ago Sunday, the census began. > >The Constitution that was ratified in 1787 called for a census >every 10 years of all "Persons, excluding Indians not taxed: for >the purpose of appropriating seats in the House of >Representatives and assessing direct federal taxes. Indians not >taxed were not living in the settled areas. In later years, >American Indians everywhere were considered part of the total >population, but they were not included in the apportionment >figures until 1940. > >The first census act asked the marshals to distinguish in their >counts between free white males 16 years of age or older and >those under 16. This would allow the government some measure of >the country's industrial and military potential should a war or >other uprising occur. > >Aside from putting down the names of family heads, the marshals >then were asked only to count the number of free white >females--without any age distribution--and all other free persons >regardless of race, or gender and slaves. > >>From the beginning the census law had teeth. Anyone refusing to >answer was liable to a $20 fine, to be split between the >marshals' assistants and the government. Each assistant also had >to post a copy of his census return--usually on whatever paper he >could find in two public places in his assigned area. Presumably, >everyone could see it there and call discrepancies or omissions >to the attention of those who mattered. > >In the earliest years of census taking, the enumerator's job >wasn't an especially easy one. The highest pay rate, $1 for 50 >persons barely covered expenses of buying paper and supplies and >traveling around to do the actual count. It was an especially >expensive proposition where settlers were scattered over the >countryside. > >Likewise, cooperation was often difficult to obtain from people >suspicious of any government representative and people were >especially wary of anything that might mean being taxed. > >The marshals were supposed to finish the census within 9 months >of the Census day or by May 1, 1791. Although most of the returns >were in long before the deadline, Congress had to extend it >finally until March 1, 1792. By that time some of the people who >were counted hadn't even been around in 1790, and others who were >present for the first months of the count had possibly died or >moved away. > >Nevertheless, the marshals and their assistants counted 3.9 >million people in the U.S. for 1790. > >Since there were no telephones and no reliable mail service, the >only way to gather information with any hope of accuracy was to >canvass door to door. At each dwelling he visited, the assistant >marshal was required to write down only one name--that of the >head of the house. The law defined the head as the master, >mistress, steward, overseer, or other principal person. Then, >only numbers were recorded for others in that household. > >The need to distinguish between the numbers of slaves and free >individuals was critical for compliance with another agreement >reached in the Constitutional Convention. The touchy question of >whether and how to include slaves in the census count had been >settled by an agreement called the "three-fifths compromise." >Each slave, for purposes of apportionment, was counted as >three-fifths of a whole person. The only individuals completely >exempt by law from being counted in the census were Indians who >did not live in settled areas or pay taxes. > >The census is about the only kind of record available that >connects a family as an entire unit. And the information in the >census is largely unduplicated in other records created by >various levels of government. Over the years the original purpose >of this people count has been expanded to include the gathering >of data for various statistical uses, which has progressively >increased the value of the census. > >The job of gathering census information was fraught with >obstacles and pitfalls. Besides having to buy their own paper and >pens, boundaries were rarely precise or well marked, making it >difficult for an assistant marshal to know for sure where his >geographic area of responsibility began or ended. > >We also have to remember the time period. Most of the United >States was a landscape of small villages and isolated scattered >farms. The only means of transportation was by wretched roads and >rugged terrain, sometimes only by boat, making the task nearly >impossible in some cases. > >Keep in mind that the men employed in this challenging task were >not necessarily motivated or qualified for the job--a job that >was characterized by low pay, potentially difficult working >conditions, and frequently demanding travel. Wages were terrible. >Add to that a vicious dog or household head, and the job was >pretty near impossible. > >An assistant marshal who followed the customary pattern of >seeking out families in his district might arrive at an isolated >farm after a long and difficult journey only to find no one at >home to answer his six simple questions. He then had to decide >whether to come back another day or fall back on other resources, >such as asking neighbors to find out what little they knew about >their neighbors. Or sometimes he might even have been tempted to >venture a guess at the right data. Respondents sometimes lied to >the assistant marshal, or just plainly refused to cooperate. > >Some new Americans had religious objections to complying with a >census. The Old Testament described in two different places how >King David, by ordering a count of the people of Israel, incurred >the wrath of the Lord, who sent pestilence upon Israel; and there >fell of Israel seventy thousand men. Fear of violating this >Biblical injunction against enumerating the population had been a >stumbling block during the colonial period and it continued for >years. > >Recognizing the greater problems involved in taking a headcount, >the federal government at least provided for different >compensation scales in counting the inhabitants of the >hinterland. Assistant marshals responsible for cities of 5,000 or >more were paid $1 for every 150 people counted, and those >assigned to the most remote frontier regions received a dollar >for as few as every 50 people counted. > >The 1790 census is incomplete. Schedules are missing for several >states, and counties of some states. There are some compilations >that infer that the census records for missing states and smaller >units have been reconstructed. It's a little misleading because >most of these lists have been created from tax lists. They still >have value in placing people in a place and a time, but they >shouldn't be mistaken for census records. > >Despite the inaccuracies, the census is one of the most valuable >tools available to genealogists. Being aware of these >inaccuracies can keep us from being led down the wrong path by >assuming the information is correct, and allows us to use these >records as road signs that guide us to other, more accurate >documentation. > >For more information about census records, visit "The Source" >online. The chapter on census records is at: >http://www.ancestry.com/home/source/src83.htm > >Ancestry.com has 1790 Census records for Connecticut, Delaware, >Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New >York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, >and Vermont as well as several other censuses available to >subscribers online. These records can be accessed at: >http://www.ancestry.com/ancestry/search.asp > >Other Census related sites: > >U.S. Census Bureau's Genealogy Page >http://www.census.gov/genealogy/www/ > >Census Online >http://www.census-online.com/index.html > >NARA - Clues in Census Records, 1850-1920 >http://www.nara.gov/genealogy/cenclues.html > >The Federal Population Censuses - Catalogs of NARA Microfilm >http://www.nara.gov/publications/microfilm/census/census.html > >"First in the Path of the Firemen" >The Fate of the 1890 Population Census >By Kellee Blake >http://www.nara.gov/publications/prologue/1890cen1.html > >Census Schedules and Black Genealogical Research: >One Family's Experience >http://www.colorado.edu/libraries/govpubs/debbie/cover.htm > >======================================================= > > >