From: Sue Dutton Rodgers <oldolls@ipa.net>
Subject: Taking of the Census
Date: 1998-08-19 19:36:51
Don't know how many of you subscribe to the Charles County Md List, but Barbara Bonham posted this info on the first census and I found it interesting: "THE 1790 CENSUS: A BRIEF HISTORY" by Loretto D. Szucs In March 1790, President Washington signed the first census act. The census was first taken to determine the apportioning for congressional representation and it is the primary reason for taking the modern-day census. Thomas Jefferson, who was Secretary of State at the time, sent a copy of the law to each of the 17 U.S. marshals and instructed them to take the census. On August 2, 1790, 208 years ago Sunday, the census began. The Constitution that was ratified in 1787 called for a census every 10 years of all "Persons, excluding Indians not taxed: for the purpose of appropriating seats in the House of Representatives and assessing direct federal taxes. Indians not taxed were not living in the settled areas. In later years, American Indians everywhere were considered part of the total population, but they were not included in the apportionment figures until 1940. The first census act asked the marshals to distinguish in their counts between free white males 16 years of age or older and those under 16. This would allow the government some measure of the country's industrial and military potential should a war or other uprising occur. Aside from putting down the names of family heads, the marshals then were asked only to count the number of free white females--without any age distribution--and all other free persons regardless of race, or gender and slaves. >From the beginning the census law had teeth. Anyone refusing to answer was liable to a $20 fine, to be split between the marshals' assistants and the government. Each assistant also had to post a copy of his census return--usually on whatever paper he could find in two public places in his assigned area. Presumably, everyone could see it there and call discrepancies or omissions to the attention of those who mattered. In the earliest years of census taking, the enumerator's job wasn't an especially easy one. The highest pay rate, $1 for 50 persons barely covered expenses of buying paper and supplies and traveling around to do the actual count. It was an especially expensive proposition where settlers were scattered over the countryside. Likewise, cooperation was often difficult to obtain from people suspicious of any government representative and people were especially wary of anything that might mean being taxed. The marshals were supposed to finish the census within 9 months of the Census day or by May 1, 1791. Although most of the returns were in long before the deadline, Congress had to extend it finally until March 1, 1792. By that time some of the people who were counted hadn't even been around in 1790, and others who were present for the first months of the count had possibly died or moved away. Nevertheless, the marshals and their assistants counted 3.9 million people in the U.S. for 1790. Since there were no telephones and no reliable mail service, the only way to gather information with any hope of accuracy was to canvass door to door. At each dwelling he visited, the assistant marshal was required to write down only one name--that of the head of the house. The law defined the head as the master, mistress, steward, overseer, or other principal person. Then, only numbers were recorded for others in that household. The need to distinguish between the numbers of slaves and free individuals was critical for compliance with another agreement reached in the Constitutional Convention. The touchy question of whether and how to include slaves in the census count had been settled by an agreement called the "three-fifths compromise." Each slave, for purposes of apportionment, was counted as three-fifths of a whole person. The only individuals completely exempt by law from being counted in the census were Indians who did not live in settled areas or pay taxes. The census is about the only kind of record available that connects a family as an entire unit. And the information in the census is largely unduplicated in other records created by various levels of government. Over the years the original purpose of this people count has been expanded to include the gathering of data for various statistical uses, which has progressively increased the value of the census. The job of gathering census information was fraught with obstacles and pitfalls. Besides having to buy their own paper and pens, boundaries were rarely precise or well marked, making it difficult for an assistant marshal to know for sure where his geographic area of responsibility began or ended. We also have to remember the time period. Most of the United States was a landscape of small villages and isolated scattered farms. The only means of transportation was by wretched roads and rugged terrain, sometimes only by boat, making the task nearly impossible in some cases. Keep in mind that the men employed in this challenging task were not necessarily motivated or qualified for the job--a job that was characterized by low pay, potentially difficult working conditions, and frequently demanding travel. Wages were terrible. Add to that a vicious dog or household head, and the job was pretty near impossible. An assistant marshal who followed the customary pattern of seeking out families in his district might arrive at an isolated farm after a long and difficult journey only to find no one at home to answer his six simple questions. He then had to decide whether to come back another day or fall back on other resources, such as asking neighbors to find out what little they knew about their neighbors. Or sometimes he might even have been tempted to venture a guess at the right data. Respondents sometimes lied to the assistant marshal, or just plainly refused to cooperate. Some new Americans had religious objections to complying with a census. The Old Testament described in two different places how King David, by ordering a count of the people of Israel, incurred the wrath of the Lord, who sent pestilence upon Israel; and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men. Fear of violating this Biblical injunction against enumerating the population had been a stumbling block during the colonial period and it continued for years. Recognizing the greater problems involved in taking a headcount, the federal government at least provided for different compensation scales in counting the inhabitants of the hinterland. Assistant marshals responsible for cities of 5,000 or more were paid $1 for every 150 people counted, and those assigned to the most remote frontier regions received a dollar for as few as every 50 people counted. The 1790 census is incomplete. Schedules are missing for several states, and counties of some states. There are some compilations that infer that the census records for missing states and smaller units have been reconstructed. It's a little misleading because most of these lists have been created from tax lists. They still have value in placing people in a place and a time, but they shouldn't be mistaken for census records. Despite the inaccuracies, the census is one of the most valuable tools available to genealogists. Being aware of these inaccuracies can keep us from being led down the wrong path by assuming the information is correct, and allows us to use these records as road signs that guide us to other, more accurate documentation.