By Tamie Dehler
Special to the Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE
November 15, 2008 08:25 pm
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The 1870 census counted 38.6 million people across the nation. Like the 1850 and 1860 census before it, the 1870 was carried out by enumerators under the direction of U.S. marshals. A special Census Office was designated by the Secretary of the Interior for this purpose. The census day was June 1, 1870, and anyone present in the household on that day was to be counted. The actual enumeration lasted five months. Three copies of the 1870 census were made — one for the county court, one to the state’s secretary of state, and one for the U.S. Secretary of the Interior in Washington, D.C.
The 1870 census asked for the following information: dwelling number in the order of visitation; family number in the order of visitation (note that more than one family could reside in the same dwelling); person’s name; age at last birthday (as of June 1, 1870); sex; color (W for white, B for black, C for Chinese, I for Indian, and M for mulatto. Indians not taxed, that is, living on tribal lands, were not included); profession, occupation, or trade of each male person over 15 years of age; age at last birthday and, if under one year, the age in fractions; value of real estate; value of personal estate; place of birth; if father was foreign born; if mother was foreign born; if born within the census year, if married within the census year; if attended school within the census year (the census year is the 12 months receding census day); if cannot read; if cannot write; whether deaf, dumb, blind, insane, idiotic, pauper, or convict (these would be people the state might have to support in asylums, poor houses, or prisons); male citizens 21 years of age and upwards (these would be those eligible to vote); male citizens 21 years of age and upwards where right to vote is denied. There was also a separate Mortality Schedule which listed by name all who had died in the county in the previous 12 months.
Questions that were expanded or new to the 1870 census were: more specific information on age, the addition of Chinese and Mulatto, whether the parents were foreign born, and the citizenship and voting questions (the 15th Amendment had passed in 1869).
This is the first census to list the freed slaves by name, so it is one of the beginning points in identifying an ancestor who was a former slave. To investigate the origins of a slave ancestor, find the family on the 1870 census first, noting the first names, ages, and genders. Then go back to the 1860 census and look at the slave schedules for white slave owners in the area. The slaves will be listed by their gender and age only. Look for groupings that suggest your 1870 people. Then do research into the owner’s deeds and bills of sale that might list the first name of your ancestors. Working forward again, check courthouse records where freed slaves might have bought land, married, etc. Also check the records of the Freedman’s Bureau.
Since this is the first census after the Civil War, it will also show how your white ancestor’s family survived the war. Many families were displaced after the war and some male household members who were present on the 1860 census will be absent on the 1870 census — casualties of the war. Check for missing males and then search for them in military records. Compare the value of the 1860 and 1870 real estate and personal estate of white families in the south. A significant difference in real estate might mean that their land was confiscated by the Union forces. Look for lawsuits involving this land. A dramatic plunge in the value of the personal estate will reflect the loss of their slaves and also possible war-related damages to their home.
The 1870 exists on 1,748 roles of microfilm housed in the National Archives, series M593. The Minnesota census is available on microfilm series T132 and consists of 13 additional rolls. The microfilm reflects either a copy of the original or a copy of a copy. Missing counties include Kootenai, Idaho; Arapahoe, Kansas; Archer, Baylor, Concho, Edwards, Hardeman, Knox, Taylor, Wichita, and Wilbarger in Texas; and Benton, Columbia, and San Juan in Washington.
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