How to Gather Information from a Census Report

Perhaps you are doing research for a grant, genealogy or a project at your work place and it requires you to read census reports. Here's how to you decipher what you are examining.

Things You'll Need

• Note paper and pen
• or Forms on which you are compiling the information

Instructions

1. When you first look at a census report, you will notice the information at the top of the form. Each census report may gather slightly different information. All should tell you which community, county, state the information was gathered from. Some will even tell you which district.
   The top of the form also tells you the name of the person who completed the form and the date it was completed.

2. Across the page will be several columns. Each column has a heading which tells you what the column represents. Since 1850, all census reports have listed each individual in a home. Prior to that the census report only listed the name of the Head of Household. Prior to 1870 census reports the color of the person was listed. There are separate Slave Schedules if you are researching black heritage. The forms list profession, age at time of census report, married or single, state where the subject was born and where his father and mother were born.

3. Some census reports list the amount of land owned by an individual. Also, people who were deaf or blind may have a column indicating their handicap. You can also find whether a person could read or write.

4. Census reports available for research start in the 1700 in some states and go to 1930. Census reports since 1930 are not available yet.

Tips & Warnings

• It may be helpful to copy the census report itself. This is more easily done if you are researching on the internet. If not, you can use blank forms and hand copy.

• Many people in our early history were not educated. Names may be spelled differently for each census report. Dates of birth were not as important to them as they seem to be to us, and so you will find discrepancies in age. However, family composition is very helpful in determining you have the same person.