1820 United States Census
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The 1820 federal census can offer you a vast amount of information including, but not limited to: -name of the county, parish, township, town, or city in which each family resided-name of the head of the household-number of free white males age under 10 years of age-number of free white males age of 10 years but under 16 years-number of free white males age of 16 years but under 26 years-number of free white males age of 26 years but under 45 years-number of free white males age 45 years and upward-number of free white females age under 10 years of age-number of free white females age of 10 years but under 16 years-number of free white females age of 16 years but under 26 years-number of free white females age of 26 years but under 45 years-number of free white females age 45 years and upward-number of all other free persons-number of foreigners not naturalized-number of persons engaged in agriculture, commerce, and manufactures-number of free colored males age under 14-number of free colored males age 14 but under 26 years-number of free colored males age 26 but under 45 years-number of free colored males age 45 years and upward-number of free colored females age under 14-number of free colored females 14 but under 26 years-number of free colored females 26 but under 45 years-number of free colored females 45 years and upward-all other persons except Indians not taxed
Twenty-three states and five territories were enumerated in this census. This was the first census to enumerate free colored persons by age category. The number of people engaged in agriculture, commerce, and manufactures includes slaves working in those industries. Remember that if an ancestor was born near the cutoff for an age bracket, they may appear in the next bracket.
Because no paper or form was provided to enumerators, the organization of the information varies from enumerator to enumerator. Navigating the originals can sometimes be challenging. Indexes, whether manuscript, printed, or digital, are nowhere near perfect. Because names are easily misread by people unfamiliar with certain localities, indexes can be filled with incorrect names. This situation is only exacerbated in cases where residents do not necessarily speak the same primary language as the census taker. One way to find your missing ancestors is to look for families that lived next to them in previous or succeeding censuses. Search for those families and scan the pages around them. Hidden ancestors may pop right out at you.
Original data: Fourth Census of the United States, Bureau of the Census. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 29. Micropublication M33.
For more information about the 1820 census, visit www.census.gov.
Original data: Fourth Census of the United States, Bureau of the Census. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 29. Micropublication M33.
