Non-Population Census Schedules
Every genealogist works with federal census population schedules. Our work with them is so common that we generally don’t even bother to specify that they’re population schedules. They’re just “the census.”
Far fewer of us make full use of the federal censuses. We know, at least in theory, that there are other schedules out there, but how useful are they really? Useful enough to go through the trouble of getting to them? And what exactly can they tell us?
This month we take a closer look at non-population schedules, specifically these five:
- Agricultural Schedules
- Manufacturing Schedules
- Mortality Schedules
- Social Statistics Schedules
- Business Schedules
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About Author
Aaron Goodwin
Aaron is a genealogist and house historian specializing in New York City research across all time periods, from the Dutch colonial era to the 20th century. His book, New York City Municipal Archives: An Authorized Guide for Family Historians, won the National Genealogical Society’s 2017 Award for Excellence: Genealogical Methods and Sources. He is also editor of NGS Monthly, former contributing editor of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, and former editor of the Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine. In 2011, he received the American Society of Genealogists’ Scholar Award.
I can understand the value of the mortality schedules, but not the other ones. Anything that doesn’t lead me to a new ancestor or clear up questions about one I’ve found seem irrelevant. Why should I care about what farms there were or the makeup of the county they lived in? No, I don’t plan to write a family history book, I have too much research to do on what I already have without digging into non-family material.
Fair enough. Not every resource is useful for every purpose.
Thanks for the excellent examples of what one can deduce from these overlooked schedules. Since women’s lives are so hard to tease out sometimes, it’s helpful to understand what information might be available. (P.S. I’m logged in as myself, Danine Cozzens, but the “Leave a Reply” header displays “Logged in as Charlotte Smith.”