Source Information
 
Ancestry.com. 1790 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: 
Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. 
Original data: First Census of the United States, 1790 (NARA microfilm publication M637, 
12 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, 
Washington, D.C.
 

About 1790 United States Federal Census
This database details those persons enumerated in the 1790 United States Federal 
Census. In addition, the names of those listed on the population schedule are linked to 
the actual images of the 1790 Federal Census, copied from the National Archives and 
Records Administration microfilm, M637, 12 rolls. 
Enumerators of the 1790 census were asked to include the following categories in the 
census: name of head of household, number of free white males of sixteen years and 
older, number of free white males under sixteen years, number of free white females, 
number of all other free persons, number of slaves, and sometimes town or district of 
residence. The categories allowed Congress to determine persons residing in the United 
States for collection of taxes and the appropriation of seats in the House of 
Representatives. This first United States census schedules differs in format from later 
census material, as each enumerator was expected to make his own copies on whatever 
paper he could find. Unlike later census schedules an enumerator could arrange the 
records as he pleased. This database is certain to prove useful for those seeking early 
American ancestors.
The United States was the first country to call for a regularly held census. The 
Constitution required that a census of all "Persons...excluding Indians not taxed" be 
performed to determine the collection of taxes and the appropriation of seats in the 
House of Representatives. The first nine censuses from 1790-1870 were organized 
under the United States Federal Court system. Each district was assigned a U.S. marshal 
who hired other marshals to administer the census. Governors were responsible for 
enumeration in territories.
The jurisdiction of the original thirteen states canvassed an area of seventeen present 
states. Schedules survive for eleven of the thirteen original states: Connecticut, Maine 
(part of Massachusetts at the time), Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New 
York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Vermont. 
(Vermont became the fourteenth state early in 1791 and was included in the census 
schedules).
Enumerators were only required to make one copy of the census schedules to be held 
by the clerk of the district court in their respective area. In 1830, Congress passed a law 
requiring the return of all decennial censuses from 1790-1830. At this point it was 
discovered that many of the 1790 schedules had been lost or destroyed. Thus, we have 
about two-thirds of the original census from the time period. The 1790 census suffered 
district losses of Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, and Virginia. However, some 
of the schedules for these states have been re-created using tax lists and other records. 
Virginia was eventually reconstructed from tax lists as well as some counties from North 
Carolina and Maryland.
Taken from Chapter 5: Research in Census Records, The Source: A Guidebook of 
American Genealogy by Loretto Dennis Szucs; edited by Loretto Dennis Szucs and 
Sandra Hargreaves Luebking (Salt Lake City, UT: Ancestry Incorporated, 1997).