Census Records
The History of the Census
The word census comes from the Latin censor, the title of the Roman official responsible for civil registration, taxation, public works, and public morality. Long before the Roman era, the inhabitants of ancient Babylonia, Egypt, and China were regularly counted in organized enumerations.
In the United States, the first census was taken in 1790. At that time, census workers provided their own paper, and the size of their sheets varied wildly—anywhere from four inches to three feet long. That first count recorded 3.9 million Americans, a figure smaller than the population of New York City in the year 2000.
Census takers, known as enumerators, record the responses they are given, but they are not authorized to request proof such as birth, marriage, or property records. In 1920, enumerators were paid between one and four cents per person, with the rate depending on whether they worked in an urban or rural district.
The results of each U.S. census are used to apportion seats in the House of Representatives. To prevent political manipulation, federal law requires that the count be an actual headcount rather than a statistical estimate.
This information is drawn from Finding Answers in U.S. Census Records, Wikipedia, and the Colorado Legislative Council.
Census Transcriptions
Portions of 1870 census was transcribed and annotated.
Census Transcriptions from USGenWeb Archives
| File | Description | Submitter | ||
| 186005.txt | 1860 Heads of household: A thru M | 14.61 k | Dec. 1998 | David May |
| 186052.txt | 1860 Heads of household: N thru Z | 22.32 K | Dec. 1998 | David May |
| c1860p.txt | 1860, Various listings | 1.05 K | 6/8/01 | Jon Anthony Hackworth |
| c1870p.txt | 1870, Various listings | 1.07 K | 6/8/01 | Jon Anthony Hackworth |
| c1880p.txt | 1880, Various listings | 1.37 K | 6/8/01 | Jon Anthony Hackworth |
| c1900p.txt | 1900, Various listings | 1.38 K | 6/8/01 | Jon Anthony Hackworth |