Census

The United States conducts a population census every ten years, which began in 1790. Since none of the ancestors were here before 1850, my collection begins with the 8th Census, enumerated in 1860. Individual names were not added until the 1850 Census. Before that, only the male head of household was listed, along with a count of the ages of people living in the household.

Event Record

For each ancestor that lived part or all of their lives in the United States, a US Census event entry shall be recorded on their personal record for each census for which they were alive. The fields for entry include:

There are four situations for which the information will be recorded:

1. For each ancestor who was alive and lived in the United States during a census enumeration, and was a blood-ancestor or already married to a blood-ancestor, and for which an entry on a census document was located, the event record shall be completed as follows:

   • Event Type: [choose the appropriate census] ex: Census 13 - 1910
   • Event Date: [date the particular census page was written] ex: 21 Apr 1910
   • Event Place: [place name; Click [Places|here] for further details] ex: 123 Main Street, Buffalo, Erie County, New York, USA
   • Detail: [leave blank]

2. For each ancestor who was alive and lived in the United States during a census enumeration, and was a blood-ancestor or already married to a blood-ancestor, and for which an entry on a census document could not be located, the event record shall be completed as follows:

   • Event Type: [choose the appropriate census] ex: Census 13 - 1910
   • Event Date: [census year] ex: 1910
   • Event Place: [leave blank]
   • Detail: [write comment] ex: Not yet found

3. For each ancestor who was alive and lived in the United States during a census enumeration, and was married to a blood-ancestor but that marriage had not yet taken place, the event record shall be completed as follows:

   • Event Type: [choose the appropriate census] ex: Census 13 - 1910
   • Event Date: [census year] ex: 1910
   • Event Place: [leave blank]
   • Detail: [write comment] ex: Spouse, pre-marriage

4. For each ancestor who was alive during a census enumeration and lived at some point in the United States but had not yet immigrated to the United States, the event record shall be completed as follows:

   • Event Type: [choose the appropriate census] ex: Census 13 - 1910
   • Event Date: [census year] ex: 1910
   • Event Place: [leave blank]
   • Detail: [write comment] ex: Pre-immigration

Citation Structure

The Census citation consists of two parts: a source record, and a line citation.

Source Record

The source record shall be the county, state, and year for which the Census is enumerated. When the source is created, the program assigns a SourceID, which is used as part of the citation record below. The fields in TNG shall be entered as follows:

• Short Title: [year] U.S. census, [county name] County, [state name], population schedule
• Long Title: AAC[census number]xx - [census year] US Census - [state abbrevation], [county name] County
• Author: database and digital images, Ancestry.com
• Call Number: citing NARA microfilm publication [publication number]
• Publisher: www.ancestry.com : accessed [year]
• Repository: ancestry.com

An example of a source record is then:

• Short Title: 1910 U.S. Census, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, population schedule
• Long Title: AAC13xx - 1910 US Census - PA, Allegheny County
• Author: database and digital images, Ancestry.com
• Call Number: citing NARA microfilm publication T624
• Publisher: www.ancestry.com : accessed 2017
• Repository: ancestry.com

Citation Record

The citation record has the following fields:

• Source: [SourceID]
• Page: roll [roll number], [jurisdiction name] [jurisdiction type (town, township, city, borough, etc.) (If city, include ward [ward number]) ], enumeration district (ED) [enumeration district number], sheet [sheet number], dwelling [dwelling number], family [family number], line [line number], [head of household name] household
• Reliability: [leave blank]
• Citation Date: [date census page was actually written]
• Actual Text: [leave blank]
• Notes: KFT Record Number [internal record number; Click here for more details]

An example of a source record is then:

• Source: S1455
• Page: roll 1295, Mifflin township, enumeration district (ED) 155, sheet 14B, dwelling 242, family 269, line 66, Valentine Hess household
• Reliability: [leave blank]
• Citation Date: 26 Apr 1910
• Actual Text: [leave blank]
• Notes: KFT Record Number RHC1301

Complete Citation Example

When the source record and citation record are combined, an example of the final citation shall be as follows:

[S1455] 1910 U.S. census, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, database and digital images, Ancestry.com, (www.ancestry.com : accessed 2015), citing NARA microfilm publication T624., roll 1295, Mifflin township, enumeration district (ED) 155, sheet 14B, dwelling 242, family 269, line 66, Valentine Hess household, 26 Apr 1910.
KFT Record Number RHC1301

Media File

A digital copy of the record itself.

Additional Details

Click on the following links to see details on the information which is included in each census:

• Census 1920