You’ve no doubt heard of the “1850 brick wall”: the difficulty many genealogists face in identifying family members prior to 1850.
Why that year? From 1790 to 1840, US federal censuses name only the head of household in each family. Other members are represented only by tally marks by age range, gender and race. Separate columns denote free people of color and the enslaved.
Because of that, the 1850 census represents a sea-change in genealogy. That year, every member of a household was mentioned by name. (With two exceptions: The enslaved weren’t generally mentioned by name until 1870, and Native Americans until 1890.)
To identify most people in these early census records, you’ll need to know to which of these categories an individual belonged to, and be able to link that person to a head of household using additional records.
Pre-1850 censuses certainly have their short-comings. But they provide real value to genealogists who are willing to put in the extra work. You’ll just need to tap ancillary records at county courthouses, historical societies, churches and archives. These can provide the all-important link between anonymous tallies in a census and identities.
This article will discuss how you can best use pre-1850 censuses. And in a case study, I’ll share how I was able to combine early censuses with other records to make progress on
