1870 United States Census
Search the breadth of our Census records on key fields that will bring you to the most matches. Best suited for broad searches by Name and basic personal information that is common across all census records.
Narrow your search to all available fields of a given decade of the United States Census, and find out more about this great historical collection.
The 1870 federal census can offer you a vast amount of information including: -number of dwelling house, by order of visitation from enumerator-number of family, by order of visitation from enumerator-name-age-sex-color (Enumerators could mark "W" for White, "B" for Black, "M" for Mulatto, "C" for Chinese [a category which included all east Asians], or "I" for American Indian.)-profession, occupation, or trade-value of real estate-value of personal estate-place of birth (state or territory of the United States or foreign country)-father of foreign birth-mother of foreign birth-if born within the last year, which month-If married within the last year, which month-attended school within the last year-cannot read-cannot write-whether deaf and dumb, blind, insane, or idiotic-male citizen of the United States of 21 years or upwards?-male citizen of the United States of 21 years or upwards whose right to vote is denied or abridged on grounds other than "rebellion or other crime?"
This census also gives clues as to whether your ancestors had naturalization papers. If a parent is listed as being “foreign born”, try looking for more information about their migration to America.
Please keep in mind that 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.
Original data: Ninth Census of the United States, Bureau of the Census. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 29. Micropublication T132.
For more information about the 1870 census, visit www.census.gov.
