Old Man Scanlon's

U. S. Federal Census Legends

What's Here

Legends for the U. S. federal censuses of 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920.

Notes

Quoted phrases are transcribed from the column headings of a random instance of a digital census image for the given year (assuming that all census forms are identical), other phrases are my summary of the heading.

History of this Document

05 February 2007, revision 1.
Initial publication.

1850 U. S. Federal Census Legend

1     "Dwelling-houses numbered in the order of visitation"
2     "Families numbered in the order of visitation"
3     "The Name of every Person whose usual place of abode on the first day of June, 1850, was in this family."
4     "Age."
5     "Sex."
6     "Color, White, black, or mulatto"
7     "Profession, Occupation, or Trade of each Male Person over 15 years of age."
8     "Value of Real Estate owned."
9     "Place of Birth. Naming the State, Territory, or Country."
10     "Married within the year."
11     "Attended School within the year."
12     "Persons over 20 y'rs of age who cannot read & write."
13     "Whether deaf and dumb, blind, insane, idiotic, pauper, or convict."

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1860 U. S. Federal Census Legend

1     Dwelling serial number
2     Family serial number
3     Name of person living there a/o 1 June 1860
4     Age
5     Sex
6     Color
7     Profession, occupation, trade
8     Value of real estate
9     Value of personal estate
10     Place of birth
11     Married within the year
12     Attended school within the year
13     Over age 20 and illiterate
14     Deaf & dumb, blind, insane, idiotic, pauper, convict

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1870 U. S. Federal Census Legend

1     Dwelling serial number
2     Family serial number
3     Name of person living there a/o June 1870
4     Age
5     Sex
6     Color
7     Profession, occupation, trade
8     Value of real estate
9     Value of personal property
10     Place of birth
11     Father foreign-born?
12     Mother foreign-born?
13     Month if born within year
14     Month if married within year
15     Attended school within year?
16     Cannot read
17     Cannot write
18     Deaf & dumb, blind, insane, idiotic?
19     Male citizen of U.S. aged 21 or more?
20     Ditto, with abridged voting right for non-criminal reasons

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1880 U. S. Federal Census Legend

1     Dwelling serial number
2     Family serial number
3     Name of person living there a/o 1 June 1880
4     Color
5     Sex
6     Age
7     Month of birth during last 12 months
8     Relation to head
9     Single
10     Married
11     Widowed
12     Married during last 12 months
13     Occupation
14     Months unemployed during last 12 months
15     Disabled a/o 1 June 1880
16     Blind
17     Deaf & Dumb
18     Idiotic
19     Insane
20     Maimed, crippled, bedridden, or otherwise disabled
21     Attended school during last 12 months
22     Cannot read
23     Cannot write
24     Birthplace
25     Father's birthplace
26     Mother's birthplace

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1900 U. S. Federal Census Legend

1     "Number of dwelling house, in the order of visitation."
2     "Number of family, in the order of visitation."
3     Name
4     Relation to head
5     "Color or race."
6     "Sex."
7     "Date of birth."
8     "Age at last birthday."
9     "Whether single, married, widowed, or divorced."
10     "Number of years married."
11     "Mother of how many children."
12     "Number of those children living."
13     Self: place of birth
14     Mother: place of birth
15     Father: place of birth
16     "Year of immigration to the United States."
17     "Number of years in the United States."
18     "Naturalization."
19     "Occupation."
20     "Months not employed."
21     "Attended school (in months)."
22     "Can read."
23     "Can write."
24     "Can speak English."
25     "Owned or rented."
26     "Owned free or mortgaged."
27     "Farm or home."
28     "Number of farm schedule."

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1910 U. S. Federal Census Legend

1     Dwelling number
2     Number of family
3     Name
4     Relationship to head
5     Sex
6     Race
7     Age
8     Marital status
9     Number of years of present marriage
10     No. children born
11     No. children now living
12     Birthplace of person
13     Birthplace of father
14     Birthplace of mother
15     Year of immigration to U.S.
16     Whether naturalized or alien
17     Able to speak English?
18     Occupation
19     Industry
20     Worker?
21     Out of work April 15, 1910
22     Months out of work in 1909
23     Read?
24     Write?
25     Attended school since Sept. 1,1909
26     Home owned/rented
27     Mortgaged or free
28     Farm or house
29     Number of farm schedule
30     Civil War veteran
31     Blind
32     Deaf and dumb

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1920 U. S. Federal Census Legend

1     Street
2     House number or farm, etc.
3     No. of dwelling house in order of visitation
4     No. of family in order of visitation
5     Name
6     Relation to head
7     Home owned or rented
8     If owned, free or mortgaged
9     Sex
10     Color
11     Age
12     Single, widowed, married, divorced
13     Year of immigration to U. S.
14     Naturalized or alien
15     Year of naturalization
16     Attended school any time since Sept. 7, 1919
17     Able to read?
18     Able to write?
19     Self: place of birth
20     Self: mother tongue
21     Father: place of birth
22     Father: mother tongue
23     Mother: place of birth
24     Mother: mother tongue
25     Able to speak English?
26     Occupation
27     Industry
28     Employer/worker
29     No. of farm schedule

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