Tuesday's Tip - Inputting Data on the 1800 U.S. Census

1800 U.S. Federal Census

The next in the series of inputtable census forms!  This time the 2nd US Federal Census, a.k.a. the 1800 US Federal Census.  Again, I don't have tons of experience using the 1800 census since all of my known ancestors came over around potato-famine-time, or later.  A positive aspect with creating these forms (aside from the obvious, being able to actually input and save your data on a copy of the form) is that it forces me to become a bit more familiar with a resource that I have not really dealt with.  I'm still no where near being an expert, but a bit less of a novice!

Again, I've tried to keep the form as close to the original as possible.  Not entirely easy since the forms still varied slightly by region and by census taker.  Not all forms have the header at the top either, so using this form will at least help to remind you what each column is referring to!

The last column on the census varies from district to district, but refers to the total number of persons enumerated for that household.  For lack of a better term (and lack of a term given on the form) I've titled it simply "Totals".  You won't see this column on all census forms, but occasionally it pops up.

I love the fact the the US Census Bureau had information for the various Federal Censuses, and while they didn't give overwhelming details about the 1800 census on their page, they did give some important details:

"A February 28, 1800, act provided for the taking of the second census of the United States, which included the states and territories northwest of the Ohio River and Mississippi Territory. The guidelines for the 1800 enumeration followed those of the first enumeration, except that the work was to be carried on under the direction of the Secretary of State....The enumeration was to begin, as in 1790, on the first Monday in August, and conclude in 9 calendar months."

So the administration of this census was more centralized under the direction of the Secretary of State as opposed to the 1790 census which was carried out under the direction of the U.S. Marshals of the various judicial districts.

Once again, I've locked the form, so you don't have to worry about inputting data into the header.  You'll only be able to input into the appropriate blank fields.  I'm still a novice with Google Docs (looking forward to Thomas MacEntee's webinar on Legacy Family Tree "Google Forms for Genealogists"  this Wednesday), so if you have any problems downloading the spreadsheet or encounter any other problems with it, please let me know and I'll do my best to fix it. 

When you click on the census in Google Docs to view it, for some odd reason (yet again) it appears to be 3 pages long and in landscape format.  It will be one page and in portrait when you download it.  I have no idea why this happens, I'm just happy that it seems to download correctly!

Next week, I hope to have the 1810 census ready to post, but Cub Scout Day Camp is all next week in the evenings so I'll have to play it by ear.  I may be forced to post somewhat less time-intensive posts!  We'll see!