One of the most valuable record sources for the genealogist is the Federal and state census. The Federal ones are done on a ten-year basis and have been conducted since 1790. All are still available in some form except the entire 1890 series, which were mostly destroyed in a fire. The state censuses are generally done every 10 years, but in different years than the Federal ones. They usually begin sometime during the territorial period and proceed from that time forward.
The Federal censuses of 1790 -1840 list only the head of household and the number of other members in the household by age group and sex. Although valuable in their own way, they are of limited use in tracing most family members. Beginning in 1850, every family member is listed with their age, sex, state of birth, and occupation. In 1880, they are also listed with their relationship to the head of household. Later years give marriage years, number of children born and alive, immigration years and much more valuable information for the genealogist.
The state censuses give varying amounts of information depending on the state. Generally it does list the entire household members and ages. They are not as often available as the Federal ones but can still be found.
Most of the time the censuses are available in microfilm and are best checked that way. There are printed indexes for a lot of the states and electronic and computer disk indexes are becoming easily accessible. However, the indexes are not always accurate. They are a good starting place but don�t give up if it doesn�t list your family. Be sure to check all variant spellings because the names are often hard to read or misspelled by the enumerators.
Most libraries with genealogy departments have census forms available for sale. I feel the forms are best for transcribing as they come with spaces for all the information available on each form. It is important to get all the information provided about each member of the family and the forms aid in getting it all down. Be sure to get the 10 people living on either side of them as well, because they may be related. Any people in the neighborhood with the same surname should also be written down, even if you don�t know their relationship.
William Thorndale and William Dollarhide compiled a great book on maps of the Federal censuses. The book, Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses 1790-1920, includes maps of every state during every census and includes the county border changes that took place over the years. It is very important to check for changes each period, because even if your family didn�t move they maybe in a different county because of border changes. One of my families never moved from their house, but lived in five different counties in 75 years.
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