The 1940 Federal Census, number 16 for the United States will be available 1 April 2012.  The header includes fields for the usual State, County, Incorporated places, Township , Wards of some cities, block numbers, unincorporated places, institution, Supervisor District Number, Enumeration District Number, Date of actual enumeration, Name of Enumerator and Sheet number.

I wish it was today!  I know many people are excited expecting to learn new things about their many   relatives.  I am interesting in what questions were asked, so I got the information for this article.

1. LOCATION: Street, avenue, road, etc.
2. LOCATION: House number (in cities and towns)
3. HOUSEHOLD DATA: Number of household in order of visitation
4. HOUSEHOLD DATA: Home owned (O) or rented (R)
5. HOUSEHOLD DATA: Value of home, if owned, or monthly rental, if rented
6. HOUSEHOLD DATA: Does this household live on a farm? (Yes or No)
7. NAME: Name of each person whose usual place of residence on April 1, 1940, was in this household.
8. RELATION: Relationship of this person to the head of the household, as wife, daughter, father, mother-in-law, grandson, lodger, lodger’s wife, servant, hired hand, etc.
9. PERSONAL DESCRIPTION: Sex — Male (M), Female (F)
10. PERSONAL DESCRIPTION: Color or race
11. PERSONAL DESCRIPTION: Age at last birthday
12. PERSONAL DESCRIPTION: Marital status — Single (S), Married (M), Widowed (Wd), Divorced (D)
13. EDUCATION: Attended school or college any time since March 1, 1940 (Yes or No)
14. EDUCATION: Highest grade of school completed
15. PLACE OF BIRTH: If born in the United States, give State, Territory, or possession. If foreign born, give country in which birthplace was situated on January 1, 1937. Distinguish Canada-French from Canada-English and Irish Free State (Eire) from Northern Ireland.
16. CITIZENSHIP: Citizenship of the foreign born
17. RESIDENCE APRIL 1, 1935: City, town, or village having 2,500 or more inhabitants. Enter “R” for all other places
18. RESIDENCE APRIL 1, 1935: County
19. RESIDENCE APRIL 1, 1935: State (or Territory or foreign country
20. RESIDENCE APRIL 1, 1935: On a farm? (Yes or No)
21. PERSONS 14 YEARS OLD AND OVER — EMPLOYMENT STATUS: Was this person AT WORK for pay or profit in private or nonemergency Govt. work during week of March 24-30? (Yes or No)
22. PERSONS 14 YEARS OLD AND OVER — EMPLOYMENT STATUS: If not, was he at work on, or assigned to, public EMERGENCY WORK (WPA, NYA, CCC, etc.) during week of March 24-30? (Yes or No)
23. PERSONS 14 YEARS OLD AND OVER — EMPLOYMENT STATUS: Was this person SEEKING WORK? (Yes or No)
24. PERSONS 14 YEARS OLD AND OVER — EMPLOYMENT STATUS: If not seeking work, did he HAVE A JOB, business, etc.? (Yes or No)
25. PERSONS 14 YEARS OLD AND OVER — EMPLOYMENT STATUS: Indicate whether engaged in home housework (H) in school (S), unable to work (U), or other (O)
26. PERSONS 14 YEARS OLD AND OVER — EMPLOYMENT STATUS: Number of hours worked during week of March 24-30, 1940
27. PERSONS 14 YEARS OLD AND OVER — EMPLOYMENT STATUS: Duration of unemploymen up to March 30, 1940 – in weeks
28. PERSONS 14 YEARS OLD AND OVER — EMPLOYMENT STATUS: Occupation: Trade, profession, or particular kind of work
29. PERSONS 14 YEARS OLD AND OVER — EMPLOYMENT STATUS: Industry: Industry of business
30. PERSONS 14 YEARS OLD AND OVER — EMPLOYMENT STATUS: Class of worker
31. PERSONS 14 YEARS OLD AND OVER — EMPLOYMENT STATUS: Number of weeks worked in 1939 (Equivalent full-time weeks)
32. PERSONS 14 YEARS OLD AND OVER — EMPLOYMENT STATUS: INCOME IN 1939: Amount of money wages or salary received (including commissions)
33. PERSONS 14 YEARS OLD AND OVER — EMPLOYMENT STATUS: INCOME IN 1939: Did this person receive income of $50 or more from sources other than money wages or salary? (Yes or No)
34. Number of Farm Schedule

    Each census sheet has 40 numbered lines (numbered along both the left and right edges of the form). There is a list of SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTIONS, which would be asked of those individuals recorded usually on Lines 14 and 29 (although other lines were also designated for such use and was presumably to ensure a random sampling).
    The Supplementary Questions were as follows:

35. NAME
36. PLACE OF BIRTH OF FATHER AND MOTHER: FATHER
37. PLACE OF BIRTH OF FATHER AND MOTHER: MOTHER
38. MOTHER TONGUE (OR NATIVE LANGUAGE): Language spoken in home in earliest childhood
39. VETERANS: Is this person a veteran of the United States military forces; or the wife, widow, or under-18-year-old child of a veteran? If so, enter “Yes”
40. VETERANS: If child, is veteran-father dead (Yes or No)
41. VETERANS: War or military service
42. SOCIAL SECURITY: Does this person have a Federal Social Security Number? (Yes or No)
43. SOCIAL SECURITY: Were deductions for Federal Old-Age Insurance or Railroad Retirement made from this person’s wages or salary in 1939? (Yes or No)
44. SOCIAL SECURITY: If so, were deductions made from (1) all, (2) one-half or more, (3) part, but less than half, of wages or salary?
45. USUAL OCCUPATION
46. USUAL INDUSTRY
47. Usual class of worker
48. FOR ALL WOMEN WHO ARE OR HAVE BEEN MARRIED: Has this woman been married more than once? (Yes or No)
49. FOR ALL WOMEN WHO ARE OR HAVE BEEN MARRIED: Age at first marriage?
50. FOR ALL WOMEN WHO ARE OR HAVE BEEN MARRIED: Number of children ever born (Do not include stillbirths)

I hope this sparks your anticipation for the future.

The 1850 Federal Census had a weath of new information listed as compared to the previous years.

A logical place to start looking for family members is the United States Federal Census; there is a wealth of information to be found if you search your census records carefully. The great news is that census records are all over the internet, and there are several sites where you will find free census information just by putting the right word in Google search. There are also several good fee based sites, such as Ancestry.com. Your local library is another good source.

In 1787, the constitution, later ratified 21 June 1788, adopted the document that called for an enumeration to begin in 1790, and then every ten years thereafter. As a genealogist, I would like to think these census were created for my benefit, however, that is hardly the case. They track population growth in each state; they establish the head of household and list the family groups after the 1850 census. Census continues to expand each year, tracking place of birth, place of parent’s birth, unrelated people living in the household, occupations and quite often you will find other relatives in the same area.

In 1790, the first enumeration provided information for the first 13 states, listing head of household, gender, free white males above and below 16 years of age, number of women and number of slaves. Sometimes they are well preserved and legible and sometimes they are difficult to read. The name of the state, city or county is listed, as well as, the enumeration number.

In 1800, 5.3 million people represented a more than 35% growth in ten years. The ages were broken down into smaller categories, i.e. 0-10 years. The number of other free persons (except Indians who were not taxed), the number of slaves, the town, the district, and county of residence were all listed. The categories allowed Congress to determine the number of people residing in the United States for the purpose of taxation (no surprise there) and the appropriation of seats in the House of Representatives.

By 1810, 7.2 million people represented a 36.4% increase in population, the largest for any decade. Categories were essentially unchanged. In 1820, 9.6 million people represented a 33% growth. The only additions from the previous census were males from 16-18 years to be naturalized, number in agriculture, commercial or manufacture, and number of “colored” persons.

The 1830 census, showed another 33.5% population increase, to 12.9 million people. The age categories for men and women were broken down into 10 year segments. The name of a slave owner and the number of slaves owned by that person were listed, as well as, the number of free “colored” persons. Also, the number of foreigners (not naturalized) in a household and the number of deaf, dumb and blind persons were listed. The 1840 census was similar except they asked the number of Revolutionary War pensioners and the number of people engaged in mining, agriculture, commerce, manufacturing and trade, navigators of the ocean and canals, number in school and the number in the household over age 21 who could not read and write, plus the number of insane.

Finally in 1850, (now 23 million people) the Head of the Household, was followed by his spouse, their children and any others living in the house. Their age at the census date was listed, sex, color, birthplace, occupation of males over age 15, value of real estate, whether married within the previous year, whether deaf-mute, blind, insane or “idiotic” (not sure who would determine that one!), whether able to read and write for people over 21 years and it lists those attending school.  This census gives genealogists a lot more information.

The 1870 census, conducted at the conclusion of the Civil War now covers 37 states and new information but much of the census was lost or destroyed. The 1880 census represented another 30% growth during the previous decade. It was the first census to record the relationship between household members and the head of the house. Several territories were enumerated, plus our 38 states. Oklahoma was not enumerated for non-Indians. A large flux of immigrants were arriving, particularly Germans and the Irish. The 1890 census showed another 25% growth. Unfortunately most of this census was destroyed by fire.

1900 Census Form

1900 Census is a valuable asset as the 1890 census was destroyed and there was heavy immigration over those 20 years.