1850's Census Records

The 1850 U.S. Federal Census:

• Census Day was 1 June 1850.
• The seventh census included the states of Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin; the District of Columbia; and the territories of Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, and Utah.
• The 1850 census saw a dramatic shift in the way information about residents was collected. For the first time, free persons were listed individually instead of by family. There were two questionnaires: one for free inhabitants (Schedule No. 1) and one for slaves (Schedule No. 2).
• The Schedule No. 1 questionnaire provided space to tally the following information:
  • Dwelling - Houses numbered in the order of visitation
  • Families numbered in the order of visitation
  • The name of every person whose usual place of abode on the first day of June 1850, was in this family
  • Description
    - age
    - sex
    - Color (white, black, or Mulatto)
  • Profession, occupation, or trade of each male person over 15 years of age
  • Place of birth naming the state, territory, or county
  • Value of real estate owned
  • Married within the year
  • Attended school within the year
  • Persons over 20 years of age who cannot read or write
  • Whether deaf and dumb, blind, insane, idiotic, pauper, or convict
• The Schedule No. 2 questionnaire provided space to tally the following information:
  • Names of slave owners
  • Number of slaves
  • Description
    - age
    - sex
    - color
  • Fugitives from the state
  • Number manumitted
  • Deaf & dumb, blind, insane, or idiotic
• There are no substantial losses.

Other 1850's Census Records:

Other census records for the 1850 decade will be added as they are discovered.