Wichita eagle., 1889-07-14
COUNTING THE PEOPLE.
THE WORK OF TAKING THE CEN
SUS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Thorough Way 1t Is Now Done.
In a big room in the attic Of the int
rior department is one Of the most inter
esting collections in the possession Of TIT
government-and yet there are not /;
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 ev
cry census from the year 1890, when the
first census was taken, down to 1850, the
year of the last census. H1ior to 1885,
only the names of the heads of families
were taken, but when the Census of thai
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 been born or who has
lived in this country since the first day
| Of June, 1850.
THE OLD WAY.
I 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 whichd1aid my hands
happened to be the returns for North
cumberland and Mif1in counties, Penn
sylvania. 1t is book of about a couple
Of hundred pages, 4x8 inches. On the
fly leaf appears this inscription written
in fair hand:
James Potter's return. Northumberland and
Miftlin.
The inside page facing the first Leaf,
reads:
The number Of persons within my division,
consisting Of q, 353 appears In a schedule here
unto annexed. subscribed by me this 18th day Of
April, 1891. JAMES POTTER,
Assistant to 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
enumerator was required to do was to
take the names of the heads Of families
the number of males in each family
above and under 16 years Of age, the
number of females, without regard to
age, "all other free persons" and the
slaves. Apparently the government did
not provide books of uniform size for
the use of the enumerators, for some of
them are big and others small.
In the second census great stride was
made in the way of obtaining more
accurate and thorough enumeration.
This year printed headings were used,
and the ages were divided as follows:
Under 10, of 10 and under 16, of 16 and
under &c, of 90 and under As, of 45 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 column for the ages of
males between 16 and Is, the enumera-
ton of unnaturalized persons, the num-
Der of people engaged in agriculture,
commerce and manufactures. Separate
volumes for the first time were devoted
to industrial statistics, and the occupa-
lions were infinitely divided. An inves-
tigation was also instituted as to the
amount of material used in manufactur-
ing establishments, the number of per-
sons employed, value of the plant, pro-
duction, revenue, etc.
The fifth made the enumeration still
more definite. The age schedule was di-
vided in this way: Under 5, from to TO-
10 to 10, Is to 90, and from 20 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-
cational, industrial and commercial sta
tistics are very complete
The seventh was really the first
thorough census, as it gave for the first
time the name of every person in the
United States at 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 were enumerated in
separate volumes, as were also the NOR
tality statistics. The amount of taxa
ton. the number of libraries, news
papers, the different religious denomina-
tions, with the value of their property,
and the question of wages all received
attention.
The eighth and ninth were on about
the same scale, with some slight addi-
tons, 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 it
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 better idea of the
magnitude of the work than any amount
Of description can, Washington Letter.