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Making Sense of the Census (Revised)

© Mark W. Swarthout

Making Sense of the Census

United States. Article I, Section 2, of the United States Constitution required in 1787 that:

"Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct."

Thus, the first census was conducted in 1790 and one has been conducted every ten years since that time. One of the earliest computers used punch cards to tally up the results of the census in 1800.

Note about Privacy - Because of the privacy laws, Federal census records are closed by law for 72 years, by that time a majority of individuals that would have been counted in the census are no longer among the living. The 1930 Census for the United States has just been released.

The method of taking the census has varied greatly over the years. Initially, census takers went from door to door, often covering long distances to record the presence of the home and the individuals therein. At first, the only name was that of the head of the household, and a tally was made for each of the individuals in the appropriate age column. As time progressed, more and more information was made available. The names of all individuals in the houseold were included, along with their ages. The original country they lived in, or the state of their parents birth can lead you to interesting results. I have ancestors, that the only thing I know about them is what state they were born in, at least to the best of their child's ability to remember!

One affect that the early census takers had was to put down in writing the names spoken by the person they are interviewing. This lead to many variations of spellings and in many cases was the first time the name had been written down. My own family name Swarthout, is one of four variations that originated around the time frame of the earliest census. (For full details on that, visit "What's in a Name?")

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