1800 Census Findings

While the 1800 census still only lists the Head of Household by name, this census is more helpful than it's predecessor as it further breaks down the family members by age groups.  This will make it easier to determine if a specific name is the correct person when there are more than one person with the same name as your ancestor.  The early census records become more helpful when you can compare it to the later records where names are listed.  One problem with the 1800 census is, in some cases the entries have been alphabetized rather than listed by order of visitation, making it more difficult to determine relationships between families.

Good Sense Census Tip:  Name spellings are not necessarily important in census records.  Census takers often spelled the names phonetically and some people didn't even know the correct spelling of their own names.  Once in a while, when the census taker came to the door and nobody was at home, they visited the neighbor and got the family information which could be very wrong indeed.  You may find your ancestor's name spelled in a different way on each census year.  This is not unusual.  You will need to become proficient at searching for probable spellings of your surnames.  I am never surprised at the number of ways the census takers could misspell a name.

1800 Census Records Online at Ancestry - Learn about the 1800 census & how to access the census index and images.

Free Download: 1800 Census Form for use in recording 1800 census data.

Which States Were Included in 1800 Census Records? (13 states)

Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Vermont.

Where Can 1800 US Census Data be found?

1. Census Finder Census Directory - This is our own directory of free census records which can be found online.  Our directory is categorized by state and county and we have attempted to list every census index, census transcription, and even census images which can be found online. 

To access the directory, choose a state: Alabama Census, Alaska Census, Arizona Census, Arkansas Census, California Census, Colorado Census, Connecticut Census, Delaware Census, District of Columbia Census, Florida Census, Georgia Census, Hawaii Census, Idaho Census, Illinois Census, Indiana Census, Iowa Census, Kansas Census, Kentucky Census, Louisiana Census, Maine Census, Maryland Census, Massachusetts Census, Michigan Census, Minnesota Census, Mississippi Census, Missouri Census, Montana Census, Nebraska Census, Nevada Census, New Hampshire Census, New Jersey Census, New Mexico Census, New York Census, North Carolina Census, North Dakota Census, Ohio Census, Oklahoma Census, Oregon Census, Pennsylvania Census, Rhode Island Census, South Carolina Census, South Dakota Census, Tennessee Census, Texas Census, Utah Census, Vermont Census, Virginia Census, Washington Census, West Virginia Census, Wisconsin Census, Wyoming Census

2. Ancestry.com Census Records   Ancestry.com has completed the database of all US census records 1790-1930.  This is the greatest tool for genealogy research in the United States to be found online and it does include the entire collection of 1800 census records enumerated in the United States.  While it is a paid subscription, it is well worth the money and they have so many more genealogy records in their databases.

3. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)  The archives maintained by the Federal Government contains all census records on microfilm, however they do not have census records available online.  What they do have online is the catalog of microfilm and a lot of useful information about what is available for census research.  See Clues in Census Records 1790-1840.

4. The LDS (Latter Day Saints) Library in Salt Lake City also maintains the entire set of census microfilm and these can also be found or ordered for a fee at Family History Libraries located throughout the United States.  You can search for a Family History Library near you using this search.  The 1880 census along with some other LDS records are available online at FamilySearch.org

5. Local libraries will often have history and genealogy departments with a (usually incomplete) collection of microfilm available for research and sometimes they will offer their patrons online subscriptions which can be accessed while at the library.

What questions were asked on the US Census?