An official website of the United States government                

----

end of header

# History

###### You are here: Census.gov ›  History ›  Genealogy › Decennial Census Records › 1890 "Veterans Census"

Skip top of page navigation

                - History Main
                - Agency History                    - Director Biographies
                  - Census Facilities
                  - Suitland, MD
                  - Notable Alumni
                - Innovations                    - Data Collection
                  - Technology
                - Programs                    - Agriculture
                  - Demographic
                  - Housing
                  - Economic
                  - Geography
                  - Governments
                - Through the Decades                    - Fast Facts
                  - Overview
                  - Index of Questions
                  - Questionnaires
                  - Census Instructions
                - Genealogy                    - Decennial Census Records
                  - Other Resources
                - Reference                    - Data@Museums
                  - Artifacts
                  - Lesson Plans
                  - Legislation
                  - Maps
                  - Oral Histories
                  - Privacy & Confidentiality
                  - Apportionment
                  - Publications 
                - Home Page Archive                    - 2024
                  - 2023
                  - 2022
                  - 2021
                  - 2020
                  - 2019
                  - 2018
                  - 2017
                  - 2016
                  - 2015
                  - 2014 
                - FAQs                    - Genealogy
                  - Agency History
                  - Demographic
                  - Economic
                  - Governments
                  - Agriculture
                  - Geography
                  - Innovations
                  - Miscellaneous

### Decennial Census Records

### Also in this Section:

                          - Famous and Infamous Census Records
                          - Censuses of American Indians
                          - 1890 "Veterans Census"
                          - The "72-Year Rule"
                          - Census Records
                          - Availability of 1890 Census
                          - Soundex

## 1890 "Veterans Census"

View larger imageAn entry for President Rutherford B. Hayesin the 1890 Veterans Census.Photo courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.
Often confused with the 1890 census, and more often overlooked or misjudged as useless, are nearly 75,000 special 1890 schedules enumerating Union veterans and widows of Union veterans.

The U.S. Pension Office requested this special enumeration to help Union veterans locate comrades to testify in pension claims and to determine the number of survivors and widows for pension legislation. (Some congressmen also thought it scientifically useful to know the effect of various types of military service upon veterans' longevity.)  To assist in the enumeration, the Pension Office prepared a list of veterans' names and addresses from their files and from available military records held by the U.S. War Department.

Nearly all of the schedules for the states of Alabama through Kansas and approximately half of those for Kentucky appear to have been destroyed before transfer of the remaining schedules to the National Archives in 1943. Fragments for some of these states were accessioned by the National Archives as bundle 198.
"First in the Path of the Firemen: The Fate of the 1890 Population Census, Part 2

  This symbol  indicates a link to a non-government web site.  Our linking to these sites does not constitute an endorsement of any products, services or the information found on them. Once you link to another site you are subject to the policies of the new site.

CONNECT WITH US**********

                            - Information Quality
                            - Data Linkage Infrastructure
                            - Data Protection and Privacy Policy
                            - Accessibility
                            - FOIA
                            - Inspector General
                            - No FEAR Act
                            - U.S. Department of Commerce
                            - USA.gov

----

Measuring America's People, Places, and Economy

Is this page helpful?
YesNo

NO THANKS

255 characters maximum255 characters maximum reached

Thank you for your feedback.Comments or suggestions?