North Carolina: John Skinner

Born on October 7, 1760, in Hertford, NC, John Skinner spent the majority of his life serving the 

people of both Perquimans County and North Carolina, where his family had been among the 

first settlers in 1688. During the American Revolution, Skinner fought as a soldier in the North 

Carolina Continental Line, yet his professional success came after the war.148 

Between 1784 and 1787, Skinner represented the people of 

Perquimans County in the legislative branch of North Carolina’s 

state government. Because of his success as a state 

congressman, Skinner served on the Governor's Council and 

played an active role in both of North Carolina’s conventions to 

ratify the U.S. Constitution (July 21-August 4, 1788 & November 

16-23, 1789).149 Perhaps Skinner’s history of public service in 

his local community and his support for the U.S. Constitution 

contributed to President Washington’s decision to appoint him 

as North Carolina’s first U.S. marshal on June 8, 1790. 

This did not give Skinner and his name much time to conduct

the 1790 census in a timely manner. The delay in Skinner’s 

appointment occurred because North Carolina did not ratify 

the U.S. Constitution until November 23, 1789, almost two 

months after the majority of the marshals had already received their appointments.150 Despite 

this minor inconvenience, Skinner and his 15 deputies completed their enumeration sometime 

before September 5, 1791, the initial deadline that Congress established for the completion of 

the 1790 census.151 152 Collectively, Skinner and his deputies found 393,751 people living in 

North Carolina, making it the third largest state in the young nation.153 

 

148 “History - The First Generation of United States Marshals/The First Marshal of North Carolina: John Skinner,” 

U.S. marshals Service, last estimated release October 24, 2019, 

https://www.usmarshals.gov/history/firstmarshals/skinner.htm. (Accessed October 24, 2019). 

149 Michael Hill, “Skinner, John: 7 Oct. 1760–31 Dec. 1819,” in Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, ed. William 

S. Powell (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1979-1996), 5:NA. Retrieved from 

https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/skinner-john. (Accessed October 24, 2019). 

150 “History - The First Generation of United States Marshals/The First Marshal of North Carolina: John Skinner.”

151 "Assistant marshals for the state [North Carolina]: 1790,"," in Heads of Families/1790/A Century of Population 

Growth North Carolina (Washington, D.C,: Government Printing Office, 1907), 11:10.

152 Gazette of the United-States. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]), 10 March 1790. 

153 “North Carolina”. Return of the whole number of persons within the several districts of the United States: 

according to "An act providing for the enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States," passed March the first, 

one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one, pg. 52-53. PDF. Retrieved from 

https://www.census.gov/content/census/en/library/publications/1793/dec/number-of-persons.htm. (Accessed 

October 24, 2019).

John Skinner’s name on the transcribed version of 

the 1790 census schedule 

Courtesy of Heads of Families/1790/A Century of 

Population Growth North Carolina
While Skinner and his deputies completed their overall 

mission pertaining to the 1790 census, Skinner’s census 

return provides evidence that the lack of a standard 

procedure and forms did affect the census.

154

 At the 

bottom of his 1790 census return, Skinner noted that 

his deputies only counted the population of each 

county in North Carolina. He wrote, “The 

marshal...////...is satisfied that not one town in North 

Carolina contains more than 2,000 inhabitants”.155 This 

highlights how the marshals and their deputies took a 

certain amount of liberty with their methodology for 

conducting the census. Perhaps, Skinner also felt 

rushed to complete the enumeration of North Carolina’s population because of his worries 

about being financially penalized if he failed to deliver his 1790 census return by the official 

deadline.156

Ultimately, Skinner served his four-year term as a U.S. marshal, then two more terms in the 

state legislature in 1794 and 1797. These were the last times he worked as a public servant, 

before returning to his private business enterprises which included tobacco, a flour mill, a baker

house, and a fishery.

157 158 Skinner died on December 31, 1819 at the age of 50 at his home, 

Montpelier, in Chowan County, NC.

 

154 W.S. Rossiter, “The First Census of the United States,” pg. 47.

155 “North Carolina,” Return of the whole number of persons within the several districts of the United States: 

according to "An act providing for the enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States," passed March the first, 

one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one, pg. 53. 

156 Gazette of the United-States. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]), 10 March 1790. Chronicling America: Historic 

American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030483/1790-03-10/ed1/seq-1/. (Accessed October 25, 2019).

157 “History - The First Generation of United States Marshals/The First Marshal of North Carolina: John Skinner.”

158 Michael Hill, “Skinner, John: 7 Oct. 1760–31 Dec. 1819.”

Map of North Carolina c. 1805.

Courtesy of the Library of Congress