Census

Wow, this task is very difficult. I have discovered that my writing skills and habits are worse than I suspected. I wanted to talk about beginning your genealogy quest again and I know that most people in America start with U. S. Census records.

I remember the first time that I looked at a census record. The local librarian was helping me. She had considerable experience with researching and our little library had a very nice selection of genealogy materials. Remember this was 20 years ago and we had no internet. She opened the 1880 County Census records for the State and County that I had been told my grandmother had been born. And there she was. With her father, mother, 2 sisters and a baby brother. I continue to get emotional when I think about that day. We had so little information about her family when I saw their names on this document it was very exciting.

Census records, what are they? Every 10 years since 1790 our Federal government orders a public count of her citizens. I have read that the United States was the fi rst country to call for this count of her people. We had to because our wonderful Constitution required that this count be made to appropriate the number of seats each State and territory would have in our House of Representatives. And of course the numbers proved how taxes were calculated and collected.