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Who were the census takers? They were just folks like you and I doing a job to make ends meet. They were required to know how to read and write and they usually lived in the area they enumerated. In the early days the census taker needed a horse. It was a job. Some were conscientious and hard workers, striving for accuracy and legibility; some were just interested in getting a little government money.There are obvious problems. The census taker did not consult any records, sometimes they did not even talk to the people in the household. They recorded information from personal knowledge, talked to neighbors, small children and visiting relatives. These methods result in huge variations in responses over a 10 year period. The foreign accents of recent immigrants played havoc with even phonetic spelling of surnames. Copies of the census records were copied. Not always by the enumerator. Often he would recruit his wife or older children to help with the copying.
On the older "fence post" tallies, the person listed as head of household may not have been the oldest person living there. That person may have been a parent or even a grandparent. People listed in any age group may not have been family members. They could be servants, visitors or boarders.
On later census listings sometimes the adult children could not even agree on the birthplace of the parents. Sometimes deceased individuals are listed on the census. The census was planned to be taken on a certain date each year. This was not reasonable considering the terrain and modes of transportation, so they tried to record information that was correct on the census date. This results in discrepancies in the ages of children and in the listing of recently deceased individuals who were living on the actual census date.
Some suggestions for cracking the census taker's code include the following:
1. Make a alphabet "sampler" from actual census entries by copying the way in which the census taker forms each letter. You can place a piece of white paper directly on the microfilm viewing surface and tracing.
2. Become so familiar with the names in the local you are searching that you can make good guesses from even partially illegible entries.
3. Copy the actual entry fromt the microfilm, enlarging or reducing the image as needed for clarity.
4. Lay a pink or yellow piece of paper on the viewing surface of the microfilm reader to enhance contrast.
5. Copy entries exactly as you find them, even if you suspect they are incorrect.
The Census Taker It was the first day of census, and all through the land,
each pollster was ready....a black book in his hand.
He mounted his horse for a long dust ride,
his book and some quills were tucked close by his side.
A long winding ride down a road barely there,
toward the smell of fresh bread wafting up through the air.The woman was tired, with lines on her face,
and wisps of brown hair she'd tucked back into place.
She gave him some water....as they sat at the table,
and she answered his questions....the best she was able.
He asked he of children, Yes, she had quite a few--
the oldest was twenty, the youngest not two.She held up a toddler with cheeks round and red;
"His sister," she whispered, "is napping in bed."
She noted each person who lived there with pride,
and she felt the faint stirrings of the wee one inside.
He noted the sex, the color, the age...
the marks from the quill soon filled up the page.At the number of children, she nodded her head,
and saw her lips quiver for the three that were dead.
The places of birth she "never forgot,"
was it Kansas? or Utah? or Oregon?.... or not?
They came from Scotland. Of that she was clear.
But she wasn't quite sure just how long they'd been here.They spoke of employment, of schooling and such.
They could read some, and write some....though really not much.
When the questions were answered, his job there was done,
so he mounted his horse and he rode toward the sun.
We can almost imagine his voice loud and clear,
"May God bless you all for another ten years."Now picture a time warp....it's now you and me,
as we search for the people on our family tree.
We squint at the census and scroll down so slow,
as we search for that entry from long, long ago.
Could they only imagine on that long ago day,
that the entries they made would affect us this way?If they knew, they would wonder at the yearning we feel,
and the searching that makes them so increasingly real.
We can hear if we listen, the words they impart,
through their blood in our veins, and their voice in our heart.Darlene Caryl-Stevens
Next Page: The 1790 Census or George Washington Wants to Know.
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