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The 1790 Census of the United States of America, CD-ROMThis CD-ROM contains 2,648 pages, comprising all twelve (12) of the 1790 Census books, entitled Heads of Families at the First Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1790, which were originally published by the United States Bureau of the Census in 1907 or 1908. Following are the individual state publications, with the original publication date, and the number of pages:
The schedules of 1790 form a unique inheritance for the Nation, since they represent for each of the states concerned a complete list of the heads of families in the United States at the time of the adoption of the Constitution. The framers were the statesmen and leaders of thought, but those whose names appear upon the schedules of the First Census were in general the plain citizens who by their conduct in war and peace made the Constitution possible and by their intelligence and self-restraint put it into successful operation. In response to repeated requests from patriotic societies and persons interested in genealogy, or desirous of studying the early history of the United States, Congress added authority to the sundry civil appropriation bill for the fiscal year 1907 for the printing and distribution of the 1790 Census. The First Census of the United States (1790) comprised an enumeration of the inhabitants of the present states of Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia. A complete set of the schedules for each state, with a summary for the counties, and in many cases for towns, was filed in the State Department, but unfortunately they are not now complete, the returns for the states of Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Virginia having been destroyed when the British burned the Capitol at Washington during the War of 1812. For several of the states for which schedules are lacking it is probable that the Director of the Census could obtain lists which would present the names of most of the heads of families at the date of the First Census. In Virginia, state enumerations were made in 1782, 1783, 1784, and 1785, but the lists on file in the State Library include the names for only 39 of the 78 counties into which the state was divided. Subsequently, the names returned at the First Census in the states of Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina, and Vermont were published, thus completing the roster of the heads of families in 1790 so far as they can be shown from the records of the Census Office. Since the Federal census schedules of the state of Virginia for 1790 were missing, the lists of the state enumerations made in 1782, 1783, 1784, and 1785 have been substituted and, while not complete, they will, undoubtedly, prove of great value. Since only the name of the Head of Household was taken, and some records were lost or destroyed, the total number of names contained in these publications (and, thus, on this CD-ROM) is approximately 400,000, out of a total population of approximately 3,900,000. The individual volume for each of the states is, for the most part, arranged by county and provides the following information: Name of the Head of Family, Number of free white males of 16 years and older, Number of free white males under 16 years, Number of free white females, Number of all other free persons, and Number of slaves. At the end of each volume, an alphabetical index is provided. The books are in Adobe PDF format and consist of graphic images of the original publications, which can be read as you would read any book, and each volume contains and index, allowing for quick look-ups. All of this is accomplished using Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is provided FREE on the CD. J-CD1098 |