Imagine someone showing up at your American ancestors’ door every 10 years and taking a group photo of the household. You’d want all of those pictures, wouldn’t you? They’d show a time-lapse biography of your family. You’d study each person’s age progression, plus who appeared or disappeared (and when).
The US census is that decade-by-decade picture—albeit in words. Every decade, census-takers compiled a list of nearly all American households. As time went on, they gathered slightly different—but increasingly more—information. By the late 1800s, censuses could tell us who lived with whom and how they were related, how well they lived, what work they did, and sometimes when or where they were born, married and died.
Censuses are so data-rich that they’re among the first places you should look for your family history—and you should keep coming back to them.
We’ll show you what’s in census records, how to find your ancestors’ records, and how to extract every possible clue.
CENSUS RECORD COVERAGE
The US Constitution calls for a nationwide population tally every 10 years for congressional-representation purposes. The first was in 1790; the most recent was in
