I recently learned that I had passed Level One in my quest for accreditation through ICAPGen. I am very excited to be moving forward in the process! I also learned that I can take the Level 2 and 3 tests next week. That is quick, but I did participate in the Level 2 and 3 study group almost a year ago and have been slowly preparing for these tests ever since. I have spent this week reviewing to ensure that I am really ready.
I did another Level 3 practice test a couple of days ago. This test is a four-hour research project, and I realized that I need to be able to quickly remember which censuses provide clues about different aspects of research subjects’ lives.
Because the tests are timed, I have been creating quick reference sheets so I will have needed information at my fingertips. During my practice test, I wished I had a quick reference sheet to show what information appears on each census. There are resources for this, but the options I have seen list the information by year. I decided it would be helpful to create a quick reference sheet by category (marriage, immigration, etc.). I used the Index of Questions at the Census Bureau Website and FamilySearch’s United States Census Forms examples to create my quick reference sheet, Clues Found on United States Census Records.
This information will help with research planning for any project and I thought you might like to have a copy too. I’ve copied and pasted the information below but also included a link to a pdf version at the end of this post for your convenience. I hope you will find it helpful!
Clues Found on United States Census Records
Address:
- 1920-1940 – Street of person’s place of abode
- 1920-1930 – House number or farm
- 1940 – House Number
- 1940 – Where did the family live in 1935?
Birthdate:
- 1790 – Listed number of free white males under 16 and number of free white males over 16. Females were all grouped in one category
- 1800-1840 – persons in the household represented by tick marks in a certain age category
- 1850-1940 – age
- 1870-1880 – if born in the last year, what month?
- 1900 – Asks for Date of birth – Month and year
Birthplace
- 1850-1930 – Lists birthplace – state, territory, or country
Birthplaces of Parents
- 1870 – Were father and mother of foreign birth?
- 1880-1930 – Father and mother’s places of birth
- 1940 – Parent birthplaces only listed for people enumerated on lines 14 and 29.
Relationships
- 1850-1870 – Every person in household listed, relationships not stated but can be inferred.
- 1880 – 1940 – relationship to head of household stated.
- 1900-1910 – How many children has a woman had, how many still living?
Marriage
- 1850-1860 – Was the person married within the last year?
- 1870 – If married in the last year, which month?
- 1880 – Marital Status Married, single, widowed, or divorced, was the person married within the census year?
- 1900 – Marital Status, number of years in present marriage
- 1910 – Marital Status (M1 for first marriage, M2 for second or subsequent marriage), number of years in present marriage
- 1920 – Marital Status
- 1930 – Marital status, age at first marriage
- 1940 – Marital Status. For people who were enumerated on lines 14 and 29: if a woman who has been married, has this person been married more than once, age at first marriage, number of children ever born.
Citizenship
- 1820 – Number of foreigners not naturalized
- 1830 – Number of foreigners not naturalized
- 1870 – Is the person a male citizen of the United States of 21 years or upwards?
- 1900 – Year of immigration to the U.S., How long an immigrant has been in the United States and whether naturalized.
- 1910 – Year of immigration and whether naturalized
- 1920 – year of immigration, whether naturalized, year of naturalization
- 1930 – Native language, What year did the person immigrate to the United States? Is the person naturalized?
- 1940 – If foreign born, is the person a citizen?
Ethnicity
- 1860-1940 – Color or race
Property Ownership
- 1850-1870 – Value of real and personal estate owned by a person
- 1900-1910 – Is the person’s home owned or rented? Does the person live in a farm or in a house? If on farm, corresponding ID number to agricultural schedule
- 1920 – Is the person’s home owned or rented? If on farm, corresponding ID number to agricultural schedule
- 1930 – Home owned or rented – do they live on a farm? If on farm, corresponding ID number to agricultural schedule
- 1940 – Home Owned or rented,value of home, do they live on a farm – corresponding ID number to farm schedule.
Military Service
- 1840 – Name and age of p pensioners for Revolutionary or military service (Written on back?)
- 1900-1910 – Is the person a civil war veteran (Union or Confederate) or the widow of a veteran.
- 1930 – Is the person a veteran of the U.S. miltary or naval forces mobilized for any war or expedition. If yes, which expedition?
- 1940 – Only for people enumerated on two designated lines: Is this person a veteran of the United States military forces; or the wife, widow, or under-18-year old child of a veteran. Is the veteran father dead? Military Service (which war or peacetime).
Occupation
- 1820 – Number of persons (including slaves) engaged in agriculture, commerce, and manufactures
- 1840 – The number of persons in each family employed in mining; agriculture; commerce; manufacture and trade; navigation of the ocean; navigation of canals, lakes and rivers; and learned professional engineers.
- 1850 – 1860 – Occupation of each person over 15 years of age
- 1870-1930 – Asked for Occupation
- 1940- Employment status/occupation of persons 14 or older
African American Research
- 1790 – Number of Slaves
- 1800 – Number of Slaves
- 1810 – Number of Slaves
- 1820 – Number of free colored males and females of particular ages
- 1830 – Number of free colored males and females of particular ages
- 1840 – Number of free colored males and females of particular ages
- 1850 – asked for a person’s color. Also had a slave schedule
- 1860 – Color
*Additional information about education, disabilities, etc. are found on census enumerations from 1830 forward.
