The 1890 Census
The 1890 census was taken as of June
1, 1890 and gathered different information than former census schedules; there
was a separate schedule used for each family with new questions about race,
home ownership, ability to speak English, immigration, naturalization, number
of children born & living, and Civil War service. Enumerators completed
their counting by July 1, 1890 and the original forms were sent to
An abstract of the census was
published in 1894 revealing the population by States, plus information about
agriculture, manufacturing, etc. – but these numbers and statistics are totals
and contain no individual information.
The population count ascertained from the records was determined to be
62,979,766. After that information was
taken from the records the original records were then stored in the basement of
the
On January 10, 1921 a fire occurred in the basement where these records were stored and some of the records were burned and most were water damaged. The damaged records were moved to a warehouse and were later purposely destroyed in the 1930’s. Why they were destroyed is a mystery. The only remaining records are fragments from various states with fewer than 6,160 names.
I have found an online article that explains in detail what happened to the 1890 census. If you are interested in this subject just check on the links below:
Part 1:
https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1996/spring/1890-census-1.html
Part 2:
https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1996/spring/1890-census-2.html
Part 3 (Notes only):
https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1996/spring/1890-census-3.html
And if this is a subject that you are deeply interested in, you can look at the 1890 Government Pamphlet given to the enumerators:
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