What Happened to the 1890 Census

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Permalink Reply by Sherry Hightower on August 23, 2009 at 10:01am

Nice points Mavis. I get frustrated by the amount of records lost in the destruction of so many courthouses in the south during the civil war. A northern friend of mine, not necessarily a genealogist, takes it in stride however, his records are continual. If you don't have to deal with it, then how can you understand? The good news is there are other ways to find the missing info.

1890 Census Substitutes
Alternate Resources for Finding Your Ancestor in Circa 1890 Records

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Permalink Reply by Mavis Jones on August 26, 2009 at 6:35pm

Thanks Sherry for the information.

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Permalink Reply by Sheri L. Whaley on April 17, 2010 at 8:19pm

This was included in a collection of business forms that I recently downloaded and I thought you would be interested.

Attachments:

• 1890.pdf, 88 KB

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Permalink Reply by Sherry Hightower on April 17, 2010 at 9:21pm

Sheri,

This is very interesting as I see that Texas is listed as one of the states where some or all of the 1890 Census survived however, I have not seen anything accept a reference to a 1890 substitute for Texas. I wonder where these records are now?

Thanks for sharing this.

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Permalink Reply by Catherine Davis on April 22, 2010 at 6:18pm

Sherry, your comment about 1890 substitute records being more prevalent in the north is most fascinating to me. I'm a northerner and as far as I can tell, my family members, from whichever country they originated, settled in the north--NY to Michigan, specifically, from 1850 forward, so I have not had any experience trying to locate info from the southern US at any time period and plead gross ignorance. But, I am at a loss to figure out why some of the same kinds of records we are using for an 1890 substitute wouldn't exist in the south so far post-Civil War as 1890. Weren't there state censuses? Or city or county directories or plat maps? Or church or tax records?

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Permalink Reply by Sherry Hightower on April 23, 2010 at 12:02am

Catherine

I found this excerpt to be very interesting and horrific!:

"First in the Path of the Firemen" The Fate of the 1890 Population Census, Part 1 By Kellee Blake

"The extant record is scanty on storage and possible use of the 1890 schedules between 1922 and 1932 and seemingly silent on what precipitated the following chain of events. In December 1932, in accordance with federal records procedures at the time, the Chief Clerk of the Bureau of Census sent the Librarian of Congress a list of papers no longer necessary for current business and scheduled for destruction. He asked the Librarian to report back to him any documents that should be retained for their historical interest. Item 22 on the list for Bureau of the Census read "Schedules, Population . . . 1890, Original." The Librarian identified no records as permanent, the list was sent forward, and Congress authorized destruction on February 21, 1933. At least one report states the 1890 census papers were finally destroyed in 1935, and a small scribbled note found in a Census Bureau file states "remaining schedules destroyed by Department of Commerce in 1934 (not approved by the Geographer)."(25) Further study is necessary to determine, if possible, what happened to the fervent and vigilant voices that championed these schedules in 1921. How were these records overlooked by Library of Congress staff? Who in the Census Bureau determined the schedules were useless, why, and when? Ironically, just one day before Congress authorized destruction of the 1890 census papers, President Herbert Hoover laid the cornerstone for the National Archives Building.."

Even after the outcry in 1921, thirteen years later the Census Bureau destroyed the remaining 1890 schedules.

In 1942 the National Archives accessioned a damaged bundle of surviving Illinois schedules as part of a shipment of records found during a Census Bureau move. At the time, they were believed to be the only surviving fragments.(26) In 1953, however, the Archives accessioned an additional set of fragments. These sets of extant fragments are from Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, and the District of Columbia and have been microfilmed as National Archives Microfilm Publication M407 (3 rolls). A corresponding index is available as National Archives Microfilm Publication M496 (2 rolls). Both microfilm series can be viewed at the National Archives, the regional archives, and several other repositories. Before disregarding this census, researchers should always verify that the schedules they seek did not survive. There are no fewer than 6,160 names indexed on the surviving 1890 population schedules. These are someone's ancestors. ..."

I have never seen a copy of the 1890 Census and I from Texas.

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Permalink Reply by Catherine Davis on April 22, 2010 at 6:19pm

Sorry, do not know why my comment printed twice, but I don't seem to be able to delete it, so please ignore this message as it is the same as above.

Sherry, your comment about 1890 substitute records being more prevalent in the north is most fascinating to me. I'm a northerner and as far as I can tell, my family members, from whichever country they originated, settled in the north--NY to Michigan, specifically, from 1850 forward, so I have not had any experience trying to locate info from the southern US at any time period and plead gross ignorance. But, I am at a loss to figure out why some of the same kinds of records we are using for an 1890 substitute wouldn't exist in the south so far post-Civil War as 1890. Weren't there state censuses? Or city or county directories or plat maps? Or church or tax records

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Permalink Reply by Catherine Davis on April 24, 2010 at 1:47pm

Sherry, I knew the 1890 federal census had been destroyed in a fire, and what hadn't been destroyed was later ordered destroyed. What I had never understood until I read some of your posts was why state and county copies didn't still exist, and now I know it is because the 1890 census was the only one where the feds didn't require local copies to be made. Thank you for adding to my knowledge.

The fragments of what is left of the 1890 census are available on ancestry.com.

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Permalink Reply by Sherry Hightower on April 24, 2010 at 8:37pm

I learned too Catherine and I hope my answer didn't come off "over board"...realizing that others read these and that they may not know as much..I sometimes answer with "too much" detail.

Glad you asked!

Sherry

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