, 1889-07-11
COUNTING THE PEOPLE.
THE WORK OF TAKING THE CEN
SUs OF THE UNITED STATES.

Made In the Methods E~mployed-The
First Census Was Taken in =
Thorough Way It Is Now Done.
In a big room in. the attic OF the inte-
rior department is one of the most inter
estinE collections in the possession of the
governmcnt-and yet there are not a
hundred persons in this city who know
of its existence. In this room are thou
sands Of leather bound books Of all sizes,
lettered on the backs as the case may be,
First Census" Second Census" etc.
These books are the original returns
made by the enumerators in taking ey-
cry census from the year 1890, when the
first census was taken. down TO 1880, the
year Of the last census. Prior TO 1850
only the names of the heads of families
were taken, but when the census of that
year was collected the name of every in
dividual in the United States was emu
merated. This room, consequently, con-
tains the name of every man, woman
and child who has beer born or who has
lived in this country since the first day
of June. 1850.
THE OLD WAY.
do not think many people know of
this, and at some time it may be of the
greatest use to lawyers and others who
are engaged in the search for missing
heirs, and who want to ascertain whether
a certain person was living at a particular
time.
1t is an interesting study TO note the
evolution of the census, so to speak. For
instance, in turning to the first census
the first volume on which l laid my hands
happened to be the returns for North
cumberland and Miflin counties, Penn
sylvania. 1t is a book of about n couple
of hundred pages, 4xS inches. On the
fly leaf appears this inscription written
in n fair hand;
James PoIer's return N~orthumbcrland and
Mimin-
The inside page facing the first leaf,
reads:
The number OF persons within my division.
consisting OF ea,s53 appears in a schedule here
unto annexed, subscribed by me this euth day of
April. l7pl. JAMES PoTTER,
Assistant 10 the Marshal OF Pennsylvania
There are no printed headings as are
found in later census returns, and at
the top of every page the subdivisions
are written. AT that time all that the
enumeration was required to do was to
take the names OF the heads Of families,
nv AAAAAh vi UNIT III tlNl llllllN
above and under 16 years of age, the
number of females, without regard 10
age, "all other FREQ persons and the
slaves. Apparently the government did
not provide books of IA uniform size for
the use Of the enumerators, for some of
them are big and others small.
In the second census n great stride was
made in the way of obtaining n more
accurate and thorough enumeration.
This year printed headings were used,
and the ages were divided as follows:
Under 10. of 10 and under 10, of 16 and
under PC, of 26 and under 40. of 40 and
upwards. The same classification was
adopted for females.
The third adopted the same age di-
visions, but in addition some slight atten-
ton was paid TO manufactures.
The changes made in the fourth were
the addition of a column for the ages of
males between 10 and lS, the enumera-
ton of unnaturalized persons, the num-
Der Of people engaged in agriculture,
and manufactures. Separate
volumes for the first time were devoted
to industrial statistics, and the occupa-
tons were infinitely divided. An inves-
tigation was also instituted as TO the
amount OF material used in manufacture
ing establishments, the number of per
sous employed, value of the plant, pro-
duCtiun, revenue, etc.
The fifth made the enumeration still
more definite. The & schedule wa di-
vided in this way: Under o, from o to 10,
10 to 10, 10 to 90, and from 90 in 10 year
periods up to 100. The deaf, dumb and
blind were also enumerated.
In the sixth for the first time the num-
Der of pensioners for revolutionary and
military services" was given. The edu-
c%atiunal, industrial and commercial sta
tistics are very complete.
The seventh wa really tho first
thorough census, as it gave for the first
time the name of every person in the
United States Mt the time that the census
was taken. The occupation or profess
sion of every male, the value of his real
estate, the school attendance, the num-
Der of illiterates, the insane, INDECENT
and criminal were all counted. Slaves
for the first time We're enumerated in
separate volumes, as We're also the NOR
tality statistics, The amount of taxa
ton. he number of libraries, news
papers, the different religious denomina-
h'SAASf - WV 'oAtS Va NiAt BAoBtllNt
and the question of wages all received
attention.
The eighth and ninth were on about
h same scale, with some slight addi-
tions, a noticeable feature of the latter
being the cause of death of every indi-
vidual who had died during the census
year.
When we come to the tenth, it would
be easier to tell Of the subjects which 1t
did not handle than those which it did.
Almost everything capable of being put
into figures went into that work, and
the number of volumes is almost without
limit. A sight of the returns of the
enumerators conveys a better idea of the
magnitude of the work than any amount
of description Washington Letter.
Different Initials.
Twin boys having been born in Uncle
Rastus' house, the serious question rose
- $50.