Unlocking the Secrets: Tracing Ancestors in Early US Census Records

Most genealogists working backwards through family lines become anxious when they reach the 1840 census, where many names have seemingly vanished without trace. Why? Most likely due to names having vanished completely. As in previous federal enumerations attempts, entire households on this and earlier federal enumerations surveys are reduced to tick marks or numbers in columns marked with age ranges, gender, sex and race (free white, slave or “colored”). Only the household head — typically male — is identified by name. Your search may become impossible given this circumstance: there are no indicators to help narrow down a John Henderson household; in addition, finding someone specific can be even harder! If it is wife or child that you need help locating, that will present even greater challenges.

What can a genealogist do? First, take a deep breath and slowly release it. While earlier censuses can be more challenging to interpret than their later counterparts, our strategies will allow you to exploit those tick marks to find your ancestors among those earlier censuses.

1. Begin Your Research. Its One of the primary steps of genealogy research is working backward in time; this strategy is particularly essential when moving from 1850 census data backward to 1840 census records, then 1830 and so forth. Translate 1850 census information about your family into tick-mark language of 1840 census to create a profile you can compare against household members found during census searches. Here’s how:

Assuming you’ve found your ancestors in the 1850 census, copy and paste their information from that form into 1840 census worksheet. Subtract 10 years from each household member’s age in 1850 and mark off appropriate categories on 1840 form; use same process when leapfrogging from 1840 to 1830 census, using example from Samuel Stockwell family here:

Estimating how your family looked in early censuses that only included household heads is key to discovering records about them. Here’s how I profiled Samuel Stockwell family for my 1840 census search.

Initial steps involved identifying my family in the 1850 census: Samuel Stockwell was 50 when they lived in Monroe, Franklin County Massachusetts with their 46-year-old wife Content and four of their five children: Emery (17), Sarah (14) and Mary, 11), Lucy (9), and Ellen (7) being from Vermont respectively.
I completed an 1840 Census Tracker by subtracting 10 years from each person’s age (Ellen and Lucy weren’t yet alive), to estimate their household. Here is how it looked like:

Emery), Samuel), and two (Mary and Sarah).
(Content) 3. I began my census research. Since Mary was born in Massachusetts about 1839, I began by looking in 1840 for Samuel Stockwell households that appeared promising; one such household could be found in Monroe but it did have discrepancies that required further investigation; my return showed the following information.

White Males between 5 and 10: Two
White Males 10 and Under 15: One White Males 40 Under 50 (one only). Additionally there will be free white females under 5, with two being available and 15-20 being given out respectively for 30 and 39 year-old females respectively.

This listing features eight family members in total; six children and two adults; as well as an extra 5-to-9-year-old-boy, 10-to-14 year-old-boy and 15-to-20-year-old girl.

Even though there are extra people, I will not immediately dismiss this match: this family could have taken in nieces and nephews or one child might have succumbed to illness before 1850; an older offspring might have married and left home altogether; therefore I must conduct further research in town and vital records for this Stockwell household in search of additional identities within this household.

Census information shows one of the eight households is “carrying an insane or idiot privately”. This could not always be family members: New England towns paid families to provide care to individuals in need.

Age/Gender/Race Categories Used in Each Pre-1850 Census
As time progressed, censuses became more detailed over time. Average life expectancy in 1790 was 35; at that point the government was most interested in counting voters and military service members who could vote. Thus censuses didn’t require too many categories – by 1830 though Uncle Sam was counting centenarians!

When profiling your family for pre-1850 census searches, divide them into these categories (keep in mind that the 1820 census double-counted some men by double counting both 16 to 18 and 16 to 26 categories.).

From 1790-1820, free white males 16 years or over and their heads of families (free white males under 16 were slaves); free white females who served as head of families; all other free people.
1800 and 1810 Census records in this period included age categories for free white males and free white females based on their birth year: under 10, 10-15, 16-25, 26-244, 45 and over respectively. Separate columns also listed other free persons and slaves without age or gender breakdowns.

1820
For free white males and females, the 1820 census used similar categories as 1810 with one additional column breaking out free whites aged 16-18 (who were double counted under those aged 16-26).

Male and female slaves and free persons were counted in categories for those under 14, 14 to 26 years, 26 to 45 years, 45 years or above and finally all other persons (excluding Indians ) not subject to taxation.” A final column counted “all other persons, other than Indians not taxed”.

1830 and 1840 For both free white males and free white females born between 1830 and 1840, age categories for both were as follows: Under 5, Under 10, Between 10 and Under 15, Between 15 and Under 20, and up until 100 and Above. Both free colored males and enslaved females were counted according to age categories: 10-Under 24, 24-Under 36,36-55Under 100Under 100…and 100+ Those under 5 or 10 or those who died between 24-24-36 were counted differently whereas “free colored” males/enslaved individuals were counted according to these same categories.

Be flexible when matching up your family profile to a census search. Due to various circumstances, your family may look different each census; such as members dying or moving away; boarders/relatives moving in; incorrect ages being recorded (more on this below); etc. You may need to save several prospective matches before eventually discarding some as you conduct more research.

2. Be Age-Conscious.
Your profile might not exactly fit the census, even though it represents your family. That’s especially true in regards to ages – as our ancestors were less self-aware about their age categories across censuses – with some staying the same or moving up 20 years over time because they weren’t sure of their exact date of birth. Identify households that closely fit your family demographics before gradually eliminating them through further genealogical research in other records.

Always consider the census day when calculating ages for your profile. Enumerators took months to visit households, so in order to keep things consistent an official census day was designated for every enumeration; all ages would be recorded as of that day. While enumerators occasionally deviated from this directive, children born after census day won’t usually be included – even if he or she were two months old by the time a census taker visited their parents’ home!

1790 saw Census Day fall on August 2; 1800 brought us August 4; in 1810 August 6 was set aside; 1820 August 7; while in 1830-1840 June 1 became official Census days. Please see our list of official Census Days to learn more.

3. Be smart.
For maximum success when searching pre-1850 census records on Ancestry.com, search pre-1850 censuses before 1850 using search forms tailored specifically for that census year – for instance the 1820 search form allows you to input the head-of-household’s name and location before entering information such as free white persons aged 16-25 years (excluding head of household) “Total Slaves,” etc for each household (don’t forget to include yourself when doing this step!). Remember to include yourself when performing these calculations when doing so!

Search Ancestry’s census search forms by going to search.ancestry.com/group/usfedcen, then scrolling down through the list of Included Data Collections to choose your census year of interest. If you don’t subscribe, check if your public library offers Ancestry Library Edition as an alternative solution.

HeritageQuest Online provides access to pre-1850 censuses that aren’t easily searchable elsewhere; check with your library’s reference desk to see if they subscribe (you might also check online), with 1790-1820 censuses being indexed – for counts 1830 and 1840 you’ll use its Browse feature to navigate directly to their county of residence before viewing schedules page by page as with microfilm; this works best in smaller communities rather than large cities.

FamilySearch.org contains indexes of censuses from 1790-1840 that allow you to view head-of-household names and places of residence for individuals. Ancestry records can be accessed via this index link; however, subscriber access is required (try searching at your library which offers Ancestry Library Edition instead).

4. Search Name Variants.
As with later censuses, search for variations of your ancestor’s name. A Joseph Henry could have gone by Henry or J.H.; also check middle names and initials as census takers or indexers could have misinterpreted or mistranscribed names, leading to unusual spellings such as Agrippa Hull being listed as Whippy Heel in Ancestry’s 1830 census collection; should this happen, simply annotate this record with corrections so that future researchers will have an easier time tracking down records that are easier for researchers than searching!

5. Understand Boundary Changes.
Your ancestor could live in an unexpected place! In the half century between 1790 and 1849, states became territories, counties were created (Maine separated from Massachusetts in 1820 for instance), geographic boundaries shifted and your ancestors’ state or county or city of residence may change even though they did not move.

Trace geographical changes using the Newberry Library’s Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. If your ancestor can’t be found through search in his usual place of residence, consider expanding your search criteria or taking out certain places altogether from your search terms.