Thursday, September 1, 2011

Archives.com has 1790 to 1930 U.S. Census Records

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Archives.com added the U.S. census data to their collection today - read it at GeneaPress - Archives.com Adds the U.S. Census to its Website.

I checked it to see what they have in terms if index items and page images:

*  1790 U.S. Census - index listing only (first name, last name, residence, genealogical society number, NARA microfilm series number, NARA microfilm roll number, source information), no page images.

* 1800 U.S. Census - index listing only (first name, last name, residence, genealogical society number, NARA microfilm series number, NARA microfilm roll number, source information), no page images.

* 1810 U.S. Census - index listing only (first name, last name, residence, genealogical society number, NARA microfilm series number, NARA microfilm roll number, source information), no page images.

* 1820 U.S. Census - index listing only (first name, last name, residence, genealogical society number, NARA microfilm series number, NARA microfilm roll number, source information), no page images.

* 1830 U.S. Census - index listing only (first name, last name, residence, genealogical society number, NARA microfilm series number, NARA microfilm roll number, source information), no page images.

* 1840 U.S. Census - index listing only (first name, last name, residence, genealogical society number, NARA microfilm series number, NARA microfilm roll number, source information), no page images.

* 1850 U.S. Census - index listing (first name, last name, age, gender, birth location, residence, other people in household (linked), genealogical society number, FHL microfilm number, line number, source information) and page images.

* 1860 U.S. Census - index listing only (first name, last name, age, gender, birth location, residence, other people in household (linked), NARA publication number, source information), no page images.

* 1870 U.S. Census - index listing (first name, last name, age, gender, race, birth location, residence, other people in household (linked), genealogical society number, FHL microfilm number, line number, source information) and page images.

* 1880 U.S. Census - index listing (first name, last name, age, gender, race, ethnicity, birth location, residence, occupation, relationship to head of household, other people in household (linked), father birthplace, mother birthplace, marital status, spouse's first name, spouse's last name, spouse birthplace, NARA microfilm/roll number, line number, source information), no page images.

* 1890 U.S. Census (very limited coverage due to census loss) - index listing only (first name, last name, age, gender, race, birth location, ED, residence, occupation, relationship to head of household, other people in household (linked), father birthplace, mother birthplace, marital status, spouse's first name, spouse's last name, spouse birthplace, FHL microfilm number, NARA microfilm/roll number, source information), no page images.

* 1900 U.S. Census - index listing (first name, last name, age, gender, race, ethnicity, estimated birth year, birth location, ED, residence, occupation, relationship to head of household, head of household first name, head of household last name, other people in household (linked), father birthplace, mother birthplace, marital status, years married, spouse's first name, spouse's last name, spouse birthplace, immigration year, genealogical society number, line number, source information) and page images.

* 1910 U.S. Census - index listing only (first name, last name, age, gender, race, ethnicity, estimated birth year, birth location, residence, relationship to head of household, head of household first name, head of household last name, other people in household (linked), father birthplace, mother birthplace, marital status, years married, spouse's first name, spouse's last name, spouse birthplace, immigration year, source information), no page images.

* 1920 U.S. Census - index listing only (first name, last name, age, gender, race, ethnicity, estimated birth year, birth location, residence, relationship to head of household, head of household first name, head of household last name, other people in household (linked), father birthplace, mother birthplace, marital status, years married, spouse's first name, spouse's last name, spouse birthplace, can read, can write, own residence or home, immigration year, line number, source information), no page images.

* 1930 U.S. Census - index listing only (first name, last name, age, estimated birth year, birth location, residence, relationship to head of household, head of household first name, head of household last name, other people in household (linked), source information), page images available on www.Footnote.com only.

I highlighted in red the presence of an index and page images in the list above.

Archives.com has the 1790 through 1840 U.S. census index, which is currently not on the FamilySearch website.  It appears that Archives.com uses the FamilySearch index items directly.

I noted that the reference to FHL microfilms and/or NARA microfilms is very inconsistent in both the FamilySearch and Archives index listings.  There are no ED numbers for some of the censuses that had one, there are no roll numbers for most of the censuses, there are no page numbers for any of the censuses, etc.  That makes it very difficult to source these census records accurately. It's really not that hard...FamilySearch and Archives would do researchers a favor by adding at least the NARA microfilm publication number and roll number to the index listings.

I'm glad that Archives.com is providing access to these records, but researchers can obtain all but the 1790 to 1840 records for free at https://www.FamilySearch.org.

I'll have more to say about the Archives.com search capabilities in a later post.

Disclosure:  Archives.com provided a free subscription to their collection at the SCGS 2011 Jamboree which I appreciate.  This did not influence my statements in this blog post, but it did enable them to be made!

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