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Of the decennial population census schedules, perhaps none
might have been more critical to studies of
immigration, industrialization, westward migration,
and characteristics of the general population than
the Eleventh Census of the United States, taken in
June 1890. United States residents completed
millions of detailed questionnaires, but only a
fragment of the general population schedules and an
incomplete set of special schedules enumerating
Union veterans and widows are available today.
Reference sources routinely dismiss the 1890 census
records as "destroyed by fire" in 1921. Examination
of the records of the Bureau of Census and other
federal agencies, however, reveals a complex tale. This is
a genuine tragedy of records — played out before Congress fully
established a National Archives — and eternally
anguishing to researchers.
As there was not a permanent Census Bureau until 1902, the
Department of the Interior administered the Eleventh
Census. Political patronage was "the most common
order for appointment" of the nearly 47,000
enumerators; no examination was required. British
journalist Robert Porter initially supervised the
staff for the Eleventh Census, and statistician
Carroll Wright later replaced him.(1) This was the
first U.S. census to use
Herman Hollerith's electrical tabulation system, a method by which data
representing certain population characteristics were
punched into cards and tabulated. The censuses of 1790 through 1880 required
all or part of schedules to be filed in county clerks' offices.
Ironically, this was not required in 1890, and the original (and
presumably only) copies of the schedules were forwarded to Washington.(2)
June 1, 1890, was the official census date, and all responses were to reflect the status of the
household on that date. The 1890 census law allowed enumerators to distribute schedules in advance and
later gather them up (as was done in England), supposedly giving individuals adequate time to
accurately provide information. Evidently this
method was very little used. As in other
censuses, if an individual was absent, the
enumerator was authorized to obtain information from
the person living nearest the family.(3) [Explaining much.]
The 1890
census schedules differed from previous ones in
several ways. For the first time, enumerators
prepared a separate schedule for each family. The
schedule contained expanded inquiries relating to
race (white, black, mulatto, quadroon, octoroon,
Chinese, Japanese, or Indian), home ownership,
ability to speak English, immigration, and
naturalization. Enumerators asked married women for
the number of children born and the number living at
the time of the census to determine fecundity. The
1890 schedules also included a question relating to
Civil War service.(4)
Enumerators generally completed their counting by
July 1 of 1890, and the U.S. population was returned
at nearly 63 million (62,979,766). Complaints about
accuracy and undercounting poured into the census
office, as did demands for recounts. The 1890 census
seemed mired in fraud and political intrigue. New
York State officials were accused of bolstering
census numbers, and the intense business competition
between Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota,
resulted in no fewer than nineteen indictments
against Minneapolis businessmen for allegedly adding
more than 1,100 phony names to the census. Perhaps
not surprisingly, the St. Paul businessmen brought
the federal court complaint against the Minneapolis
businessmen.(5)
In March 1896, before final publication of all general
statistics volumes, the original 1890 special schedules for mortality, crime, pauperism and
benevolence, special classes (e.g., deaf, dumb, blind, insane), and portions of the
transportation and insurance schedules were badly
damaged by fire and destroyed by Department of the
Interior order.(6)
[But another fire couldn't happen, right?]
No damage to the general population schedules was reported at
that time. In fact, a 1903 census clerk found them
to be in "fairly good condition."(7)
Despite repeated ongoing requests by the secretary
of commerce and others for an archives building
where all census schedules could be safely stored,
by January 10, 1921, the schedules could be found
piled in an orderly manner on closely placed pine
shelves in an unlocked file room in the basement of
the Commerce Building.
At about five o'clock on that afternoon, building fireman
James Foster noticed smoke coming through openings
around pipes that ran from the boiler room into the
file room. Foster saw no fire but immediately
reported the smoke to the desk watchman, who called
the fire department.(8)
Minutes later, on the fifth floor, a watchman
noticed smoke in the men's bathroom, took the
elevator to the basement, was forced back by the
dense smoke, and went to the watchman's desk. By
then, the fire department had arrived, the house
alarm was pulled (reportedly at 5:30), and a dozen
employees still working on upper floors evacuated. A
total of three alarms and a general local call were
turned in.(9)
After some setbacks from the intense smoke, firemen gained
access to the basement. While a crowd of ten
thousand watched, they poured twenty streams of
water into the building and flooded the cellar
through holes cut into the concrete floor. The fire
did not go above the basement, seemingly thanks to a
fireproofed floor. By 9:45 p.m. the fire was
extinguished, but firemen poured water into the
burned area past 10:30 p.m. Disaster planning and
recovery were almost unknown in 1921. With the blaze
extinguished, despite the obvious damage and need
for immediate salvage efforts, the chief clerk
opened windows to let out the smoke, and except for
watchmen on patrol, everyone went home.(10)
[Good grief]
The morning after was an archivist's nightmare, with
ankle-deep water covering records in many areas.
Although the basement vault was considered fireproof
and watertight, water seeped through a broken
wired-glass panel in the door and under the floor,
damaging some earlier and later census schedules on
the lower tiers. The 1890 census, however, was
stacked outside the vault and was, according to one
source, "first in the path of the firemen."(11)
That morning, Census Director Sam Rogers reported
the extensive damage to the 1890 schedules,
estimating 25 percent destroyed, with 50 percent of
the remainder damaged by water, smoke, and fire.(12)
Salvage of the water soaked and charred documents
might be possible, reported the bureau, but saving
even a small part would take a month, and it would
take two to three years to copy off and save all the
records damaged in the fire. The preliminary
assessment of Census Bureau Clerk T. J. Fitzgerald
was far more sobering. Fitzgerald told reporters
that the priceless 1890 records were "certain to be
absolutely ruined. There is no method of restoring
the legibility of a water-soaked volume."(13)
Four days later, Sam Rogers complained they had not and would
not be permitted any further work on the schedules
until the insurance companies completed their
examination. Rogers issued a state-by-state report
of the number of volumes damaged by water in the
basement vault, including volumes from the 1830,
1840, 1880, 1900, and 1910 censuses. The total
number of damaged vault volumes numbered 8,919, of
which 7,957 were from the 1910 census. Rogers
estimated that 10 percent of these vault schedules
would have to be "opened and dried, and some of them
recopied." Thankfully, the census schedules of
1790-1820 and 1850-1870 were on the fifth floor of
the Commerce Building and reportedly not damaged.
The new 1920 census was housed in a temporary
building at Sixth and B Streets, SW, except for some
of the non-population schedules being used on the
fourth floor.(14)
Speculation and rumors about the cause of the blaze
ran rampant. Some newspapers claimed, and many
suspected, it was caused by a cigarette or a lighted
match. Employees were keenly questioned about their
smoking habits. Others believed the fire started
among shavings in the carpenter shop or was the
result of spontaneous combustion. At least one woman
from Ohio felt certain the fire was part of a
conspiracy to defraud her family of their rightful
estate by destroying every vestige of evidence
proving heirship.(15)
Most seemed to agree that the fire could not have
been burning long and had made quick and intense
headway; shavings and debris in the carpenter shop,
wooden shelving, and the paper records would have
made for a fierce blaze. After all, a watchman and
engineers had been in the basement as late as 4:35
and not detected any smoke.(16)
Others, however, believed the fire had been burning
for hours, considering its stubbornness. Although,
once the firemen were finished, it was difficult to
tell if one spot in the files had burned longer than
any other, the fire's point of origin was determined
to have been in the northeastern portion of the file
room (also known as the storage room) under the
stock and mail room.(17)
Despite every investigative effort, Chief Census
Clerk E. M. Libbey reported, no conclusion as to the
cause was reached. He pointed to the strict rules
against smoking, intactness of electrical wires, and
noted that no rats had been found in the building
for two months. He further reasoned that spontaneous
combustion in bales of waste paper was unlikely, as
they were burned on the outside and not totally
consumed.(18)
In the end, even experts from the Bureau of
Standards brought in to investigate the blaze could
not determine the cause.(19)
The disaster spurred renewed cries and support for a
National Archives, notably from congressmen, census
officials, and longtime archives advocate J.
Franklin Jameson.(20)
It also gave rise to proposals for better records
protection in current storage spaces. Utah's Senator
Reed Smoot, convinced a cigarette caused the fire,
prepared a bill disallowing smoking in some
government buildings. The Washington Post
expressed outrage that the Declaration of
Independence and Constitution were in danger even at
the moment, being stored at the Department of State
in wooden cabinets.(21)
Meanwhile, the still soggy, "charred about the
edges" original and only copies of the 1890
schedules remained in ruins. At the end of January,
the records damaged in the fire were moved for
temporary storage. Over the next few months, rumors
spread that salvage attempts would not be made and
that Census Director Sam Rogers had recommended that
Congress authorize destruction of the 1890 census.
Prominent historians, attorneys, and genealogical
organizations wrote to new Secretary of Commerce
Herbert Hoover, the Librarian of Congress, and other
government officials in protest. The National
Genealogical Society (NGS) and Daughters of the
American Revolution formally petitioned Hoover and
Congress, and the editor of the NGS Quarterly
warned that a nationwide movement would begin among
state societies and the press if Congress seriously
considered destruction.(22)
The content of replies to the groups was invariably
the same; denial of any planned destruction and
calls for Congress to provide for an archives
building. Herbert Hoover wrote "the actual cost of
providing a watchman and extra fire service [to
protect records] probably amounts to more, if we
take the government as a whole, than it would cost
to put up a proper fire-proof archive building."(23)
Still no appropriation for an archives was forthcoming. By
May of 1921 the records were still piled in a large
warehouse where, complained new census director
William Steuart, they could not be consulted and
would probably gradually deteriorate. Steuart
arranged for their transfer back to the census
building, to be bound where possible, but at least
put in some order for reference.(24)
The extant record is scanty on storage and possible use
of the 1890 schedules between 1922 and 1932 and
seemingly silent on what precipitated the following
chain of events. In December 1932, in accordance
with federal records procedures at the time, the
Chief Clerk of the Bureau of Census sent the
Librarian of Congress a list of papers no longer
necessary for current business and scheduled for
destruction. He asked the Librarian to report back
to him any documents that should be retained for
their historical interest. Item 22 on the list for
Bureau of the Census read "Schedules, Population . .
. 1890, Original." The Librarian identified no
records as permanent, the list was sent forward, and
Congress authorized destruction on February 21,
1933. At least one report states the 1890 census
papers were finally destroyed in 1935, and a small
scribbled note found in a Census Bureau file states
"remaining schedules destroyed by Department of
Commerce in 1934 (not approved by the
Geographer)."(25) Further study is necessary to
determine, if possible, what happened to the fervent
and vigilant voices that championed these schedules
in 1921. How were these records overlooked by
Library of Congress staff? Who in the Census Bureau
determined the schedules were useless, why, and
when? Ironically, just one day before Congress
authorized destruction of the 1890 census papers,
President Herbert Hoover laid the cornerstone for
the National Archives Building
In 1942 the National Archives accessioned a damaged bundle
of surviving Illinois schedules as part of a
shipment of records found during a Census Bureau
move. At the time, they were believed to be the only
surviving fragments.(26)
In 1953, however, the Archives accessioned an
additional set of fragments. These sets of extant
fragments are from Alabama, Georgia, Illinois,
Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina,
Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, and the District of
Columbia and have been microfilmed as National
Archives Microfilm Publication M407 (3 rolls). A
corresponding index is available as National
Archives Microfilm Publication M496 (2 rolls). Both
microfilm series can be viewed at the National
Archives, the regional archives, and several other
repositories. Before disregarding this census,
researchers should always verify that the schedules
they seek did not survive. There are no fewer than
6,160 names indexed on the surviving 1890 population
schedules. These are someone's ancestors.
The Special Enumeration of Union Veterans and Widows
Often confused with the 1890 census, and more often
overlooked or misjudged as useless, are nearly
seventy-five thousand special 1890 schedules
enumerating Union veterans and widows of Union
veterans.(27) Nearly all of these schedules for the states of
Alabama through Kansas and approximately half of
those for Kentucky appear to have been destroyed
before transfer of the remaining schedules to the
National Archives in 1943. Nearly all, but
fragments for some of these states were accessioned
by the National Archives as "bundle 198." Many
reference sources state or speculate that the
missing schedules were lost in the 1921 fire. The
administrative record, however, does not support
this conclusion.
The Pension Office requested the special enumeration to
help Union veterans locate comrades to testify in
pension claims and to determine the number of
survivors and widows for pension legislation. Some
congressmen also thought it scientifically useful to
know the effect of various types of military service
upon veterans' longevity.(28) To assist in the enumeration, the Pension Office
prepared a list of veterans' names and addresses
from their files and from available military records
held by the War Department. The superintendent of
the census planned to print in volumes the veterans
information (name, rank, length of service, and post
office address) compiled from the 1890 enumeration
and place copies with libraries and veterans
organizations so individuals could more easily
locate their fellow veterans.(29)
Question 2 on the general population schedules inquired
whether the subject had been "a soldier, sailor, or
marine during the civil war (United States or
Confederate) or widow of such person." Enumerators
were instructed to write "Sol" for soldier, "Sail"
for sailor, and "Ma" for marine, with "U.S." or
"Conf." in parentheses, for example, Sol (U.S.) or
Sail (Conf.). The letter "W" was added to these
designations if the enumerated was a widow.(30)
According to enumeration instructions, if the
veteran or widow responded "yes" to Union
service, the enumerator produced the veterans
schedule, marked the family number from the general
population schedule, and proceeded to ask additional
service-related questions.
The upper half of each page on the veterans schedules lists
name, rank, company, regiment or vessel, date of
enlistment, date of discharge, and length of
service. The lower half contains the post office
address, any disability incurred in the service, and
general remarks. The question on disability was
included because many veterans claimed pensions,
under an 1862 act, based on service-related
disabilities.(31) The "General Remarks" column usually provides the
most colorful, anecdotal, and meaningful information
on the schedules.
Although the special enumeration was intended only for Union
veterans of the Civil War and their widows,
enumerators nevertheless often listed veterans and
widows of earlier wars as well as Confederate
veterans.(32)
Veterans of the War of 1812 are sometimes listed,
and there are especially numerous entries for
Mexican War veterans. Susan Arnold of Pennsylvania
was listed, though her husband died in New Orleans
coming home from the Seminole War (1828-1833).
John Yost is listed as serving in the French army under
Maximilian. Several sources note that Confederates
are inadvertently recorded in this enumeration;
actual study of the records reveals that there are
some Confederates listed for every extant state
(excluding the fragments on bundle 198).
Schedules consisting nearly entirely of Confederates
are not altogether uncommon, especially in extant
schedules of Southern states.(33)
The Confederate names are sometimes crossed out or
marked as errors (presumably by census supervisors),
but the information is usually readable.
Listings for widows can also provide telling insights to the
veteran's service, her life or remarriage, even
their relationship. Eliza Smith of Pennsylvania was
simply listed as the "grass widow of a soldier." A
Pennsylvania widow living at the Home for the
Friendless claimed she knew nothing of her husband's
fate but thought him dead. A Wyoming widow
remembered no particulars, only that her husband
wore a "blue coat." Enumerators were instructed to
list the widow's name above the name of the deceased
veteran and fill out the record of his
service during the war but list her present
post office. Remarried widows were listed in this
manner with their new surname. Dependent mothers are
also sometimes listed, as in the case of Pate
Halberts of Ohio, who knew little English, but
enough to tell the enumerator her son died in
Andersonville.(34)
Enumerators often noted the battle or circumstances
in which a death or disability had been incurred,
such as "shot dead at Gettysburg, July 3rd 1864" or
"lost right arm at Resaca." They also had the
unenviable task of diagnosing the described ailments
such as "harte disease," "indestan of stomic," and "thie
woond." Men recounted the loss of eyes, ears, and
appendages. They told of falling from and being
trampled by horses, being crippled on trains
"wrecked by rebels," and going insane from the
"noise of war." Allan Hobbs of Salt Lake, Utah,
claimed partial paralysis of his feet from freezing
in Libbey Prison, and George Search of Baltimore
claimed his constitution was broken after six months
at Andersonville.(35) The perils of bad wartime medicine are evident as
well. Many reported blood poisoning or crippling
from an impure vaccination. One widow told the
enumerator her husband died by eating too much
morphine. Without a doubt, however, the most
widespread permanent disabilities reported by the
1890 veterans were diarrhea (spelled in many
creative ways) and piles.
The schedules may reveal anecdotal or unique
information. They sometimes briefly chronicle an
individual's military career, like that of William
Martin of North Carolina, who rose from private to
general. Josiah Dunbar's widow claimed her husband
was one of the first, if not the first, to
enlist in his county, and Bernard Todd remembered he
had played in Custer's band at the Appomattox
surrender. Ohioan James Stabus admitted he had been
captured and paroled by the notorious raider John
Hunt Morgan. Jackson Mitchell of Pennsylvania said
he was born a slave and compelled at first to serve
in the Confederate army. Others proudly noted their
service in the U.S. Colored Troops, in specialized
units, or as spies. Dennis Arnold of Allegany,
Maryland, said he "would go again tomorrow." The
schedules may even provide clues about enlistment
under "secret or varied names." For example, Samuel
Polite, Marcus Moultair, and August Gadson of
Sheldonship County, South Carolina, all reported
they had enlisted in the Union Army under "secret"
names, which the enumerator listed according to
instructions, with lawful name preceding the alias.(36)
In some instances, the pension certificate number is
provided. At least two Missourians were listed on
the veterans schedule and overlooked in the general
population census.(37)
A less noble side of some veterans is revealed, as well.
Some individuals falsely claimed to be veterans,
hoping to receive government pensions. "Deserter" is
entered in the remarks column often enough, although
it is often unclear by whom this information was
provided. William Robertson of the Oklahoma
Territory was found "sick on drink when visited."
One North Carolina enumerator disgustedly reported
on a case of pension fraud, noting: "Brown and
Branvell were both deserters from the Confederate
Army. Brown now draws a pension from 'Uncle Sam'
under the plea that he has scurvy of the mouth."(38)
At the completion of the 1890 enumeration, the special
schedules were returned with a preliminary count of
1,099,668 Union survivors and 163,176 widows. A
large number of schedules were found to be
incomplete, and many veterans had been overlooked.
The Census Bureau sent thousands of letters and
published inquiries in hundreds of newspapers hoping
to acquire missing data. As appropriate, corrections
and additions were made to the schedules. The
initial work of examining, verifying, and
classifying the information was suspended in June
1891, awaiting congressional appropriation for
publication of the veterans' volumes.(39)
During that same period, anticipating the
publication, the bureau began transcribing
information from the schedules onto a printed card
for each surviving veteran or widow, later to be
arranged by state and organization. No fewer than
304,607 cards were completed before this work was
also halted. These cards do not seem to be extant,
nor does there appear to be a final record of their
disposition. Some cards may have been placed in
individual service files.(40)
The veterans' publication seemed doomed. Adequate
funding was not available, many considered other
census work more pressing, and searches for
information in the manuscript veterans schedules
were cumbersome and costly. In 1893 Carroll Wright,
then in charge of the census, argued that too much
time had already passed to make any veterans'
publication accurate; the general schedules provided
an approximate number of Union veterans and widows.
He recommended these special schedules be
transferred to the Pension Office or the War
Department, and in 1894 Congress authorized their
transfer to the Commissioner of Pensions for use in
the Pension Office and transferred them "shortly
thereafter."(41)
The schedules were arranged and stored in bundles,
generally alphabetically by name of state or
territory, and numbered sequentially. In 1930 legal
custody of the schedules passed from the Pension
Office to the newly formed Veterans Administration,
where they remained until accessioned by the
National Archives in 1943 as part of Record Group
15.(42)
Clearly these schedules were maintained apart from
the population schedules and used for different
purposes in a different location. Moreover, no
reporting from the fires of 1896 or 1921 mention
these schedules among the damaged series. It seems
nearly impossible they were involved in the Commerce
Building fire in 1921.
The extant schedules are available for part of Kentucky
through Wyoming, Lincoln Post #3 in Washington,
D.C., and selected U.S. vessels and navy yards. The
schedules are generally arranged by state and county
and there under generally by town or post office
address. The bundle containing schedules for
Oklahoma and Indian Territories are arranged by
enumeration districts. Although veterans schedules
from the states of Alabama through Kentucky (part)
are not known to be extant, bundle 198 on roll 118,
"Washington, DC, and Miscellaneous," also contains
some schedules for California (Alcatraz),
Connecticut (Fort Trumbull, Hartford County
Hospital, and U.S. Naval Station), Delaware
(Delaware State Hospital for the Insane), Florida
(Fort Barrancas and St. Francis Barracks), Idaho
(Boise Barracks and Fort Sherman), Illinois (Cook
County and Henderson County), Indiana (Warrick
County and White County), and Kansas (Barton
County). All of the accessioned schedules have been
microfilmed and are available as National Archives
Microfilm Publication M123 (118 rolls).(43)
There is no comprehensive index to the 1890 special
enumeration, but indexes to some states or specific
areas have been prepared by various publishing
companies and private groups. These special
enumerations are well worth examination. Although it
may be time-consuming to wade through an un-indexed
county, the information rewards can be priceless and
uncommon. Few series in the National Archives rival
this one for anecdotal information and local color.
More than
150 years passed between the signing of the
Declaration of Independence and the establishment of
a U.S. National Archives, however, and the nation
paid a high price for this delay.
Critical records succumbed to war, fire, flood, theft, moves, agency
reorganization, administrative error, improper filming, ignorance,
apathy, and the ravages of time. It is really quite remarkable
that so many valuable records are extant and available for research.
The tragedy of the 1890 census remains a constant reminder of the
necessity for a vigorous National Archives and unrelenting vigilance
about the historical record.
Of course, there is no real substitute for the lost
1890 or any other comprehensive federal census.
Records relating to elections, tax or criminal
legislation, impending statehood, war, economic
crisis, vital statistics reporting, and other local
events may provide alternative information sources.
There are some state and territorial censuses
available for the years near 1890. For example, the
federal government assisted the states and
territories of Colorado, Florida, Nebraska, New
Mexico, and the Dakotas in an 1885 census. There is
an 1890 territorial census for some areas in
Oklahoma.(44) The 1890 poll lists or "Great Registers" for
selected counties in Arizona and California are
extant and available at the respective state
archives. The Arkansas Genealogical Society has
sponsored a statewide program to reconstruct the
missing 1890 federal census using tax and other
local records. Ann Lainhart's State Census
Records (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.,
1992) includes state-by-state listings of census
resources, including some census and other
alternatives for the 1890 federal census.(45)
Researchers are encouraged to contact state and
local repositories to inquire about alternative
resources and verify records arrangement,
availability, and content.
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The loss of the 1890 schedules and absence of part of the
special veterans enumeration are especially painful
information losses for which there is no real balm.
However, all of the federal censuses
(pre-1920) might have been destroyed in that 1921
fire, especially if it had consumed the entire
Commerce Building. It is a wonder now, as it was to
the secretary of commerce at the time of the fire,
that such a large number of records were saved.(46)
Most researchers in federal records are frustrated
at some point by gaps in records, lack of indexes
and description, poor quality images, or unknown
records provenance.
Notes
1. Daniel P. O'Mahony, "Lost But Not Forgotten: The U.S.
Census of 1890," Government Publications Review
18 (1991): 332; Margo J. Anderson, The American
Census: A Social History (1988), p. 106.
The Census Bureau was established as a permanent
organization in 1902; before that date, the work of
the bureau was carried out on an ad hoc
basis pursuant to congressional authorization. In
February 1903 the Census Bureau was transferred from
the Department of the Interior to the Department of
Commerce and Labor and in 1913 to the newly
separated Commerce Department. See Kellee Green,
"The Fourteenth Numbering of the People: The 1920
Federal Census," Prologue: Quarterly of the
National Archives 23 (Summer 1991): 131-132.
2. O'Mahony, "Lost But Not Forgotten," pp. 333, 335;
Anderson, The American Census, p. 102; W.
Stull Holt, The Bureau of the Census: Its
History, Activities, and Organization (1929;
reprint, 1974), p. 30.
Municipal governments could request copies of information
(names, age, sex, birthplace, and color or race) of
their residents from the superintendent of the
census at a cost of twenty-five cents for each
hundred names. See Sec. 23, An Act to Provide for
Taking of the Eleventh and Subsequent Censuses,
March 1, 1889, Records Relating to the 11th (1890)
Census, 1889-1893, Records Relating to Decennial
Censuses, Patents and Miscellaneous Division,
Records of the Office of the Secretary of Interior,
Record Group 48, National Archives (hereinafter,
records in the National Archives will be cited as RG
___, NA); Carroll D. Wright and William C. Hunt,
The History and Growth of the United States Census
(1900), p. 73.
3. There were four general schedules relating to the
population, agriculture, manufactures, and
mortality; eight supplemental schedules, for the
defective, dependent, and delinquent classes; and a
special schedule enumerating the survivors of the
War of the Rebellion. Sec. 9, 19, An Act to Provide
for Taking of the Eleventh and Subsequent Censuses,
March 1, 1889, and Robert V. Porter to Eugene Hale,
Feb. 21, 1890, Records Relating to the 11th (1890)
Census, 1889 1893, Records Relating to Decennial
Censuses, Patents and Miscellaneous Division, RG 48,
NA; Richard Mayo Smith. "The Eleventh Census of the
United States," Economic Journal 1 (March
1891): 45-46; Wright and Hunt, History and
Growth, p. 70.
4. Holt, The Bureau of the Census, p. 28; Sec. 17,
An Act to Provide for Taking of the Eleventh and
Subsequent Censuses, March 1, 1889, and Robert V.
Porter to Eugene Hale, Feb. 21, 1890, Records
Relating to the 11th (1890) Census, 1889-1893,
Records Relating to Decennial Censuses, Patents and
Miscellaneous Division, RG 48, NA.
On the population schedule there were fourteen inquiries
common to the schedules of 1880 and 1890, while in
1890 there were ten additional points of information:
Whether a soldier, sailor, or marine during the
Civil War (United States or Confederate), or
widow of such person.
Mother of how many children, and number of these
children living (for all married, widowed, and
divorced women).
Number of years in the United States (for all
foreign-born adult males).
Whether naturalized (for all foreign-born adult
males).
Whether naturalization papers have been taken
out (for all foreign-born adult males).
Ability to speak English (for all persons ten
years old and upward).
Whether home lived in was hired, or owned by the
head or by a member of the family.
If
owned by head or member of family, whether the
home was free from mortgage encumbrance.
If
the head of the family was a farmer, whether the
farm which he cultivated was hired, or owned by
him or by a member of his family.
If
owned by head or member of family, whether the
farm was free from mortgage encumbrance.
In 1890 a further subdivision was required by the law
concerning negroes of mixed blood as to the number
of mulattoes, quadroons, and octoroons. See Robert
Porter to Hon. J. H. Gallinger, ordered to be
printed Jan. 5, 1898, 55th Cong., 2d sess., Document
46.
5. Introduction to File Microcopies of Records in
the National Archives: No. 123, Eleventh Census of
the United States, 1890, Schedules Enumerating Union
Veterans and Widows of Union Veterans of the Civil
War (1948), p. ii; Wright, History and
Growth, p. 76; Smith, "The Eleventh Census," p.
49; Anderson, The American Census, pp. 106,
108; Report of the Operations of the Census
Office for the Fiscal Year ended June 30, 1892,
Records Relating to the 11th (1890) Census, Records
Relating to Decennial Censuses, Patents and
Miscellaneous Division, RG 48, NA; U.S. v.
Stevens, et al., Criminal Case 105, U.S.
District Court for the District of Minnesota Fourth
Division (Minneapolis), Records of District Courts
of the United States, RG 21, National
Archives-Central Plains Region.
6. Anderson, The American Census, p. 109;
Wright and Hunt, History and Growth, p. 78.
In his annual report for 1937, the Archivist of the United
States, reporting the accessioning of farm schedules
from other census years, noted: "The agricultural
schedules for 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 have been
distributed to societies and libraries throughout
the country; those for 1890 have disappeared." See
Third Annual Report of the Archivist of the
United States for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30,
1937 (1938), pp. 141-142.
7. C. S. Sloane to Edward McCauley, Nov. 24, 1903, folder
"Census of 1890," Alphabetical Subject File, Records
of the Bureau of the Census, RG 29, NA.
Perhaps, retrospectively, it is amazing that a fire did not
occur sooner, as a 1916 report notes that the area
in the vault nearest the boiler room could not be
kept below 90 degrees while the heating plant was in
operation, making it too hot for a clerk to work in
the vault for more than a few minutes and causing
the records to rapidly deteriorate. Report of the
Secretary of Commerce 1916, General Correspondence
68636/3, Office of the Secretary, General Records of
the Department of Commerce, RG 40, NA.
8. "Report Concerning the Fire in the Basement of the
Department of Commerce Building on the Afternoon of
January 10, 1921," Jan. 20, 1921, and Testimony of
James E. Foster, Fireman, Testimony of John Parsons,
Chief Engineer and Electrician, Office of the
Solicitor's Inquiry Concerning Origin of the Fire in
the Department of Commerce Building on January 10,
1921, made January 11, 1921, General Correspondence
68636/3; Office of the Secretary, RG 40, NA;
Washington Star, Jan. 11, 1921; Washington
Post, Jan. 11, 1921.
9. The January 20 report of Libbey and the Washington
Post state 5:30 as the time the fire was
discovered. "Report Concerning the Fire in the
Basement of the Department of Commerce Building on
the Afternoon of January 10, 1921," Jan. 20, 1921,
and Report, E. M. Libbey to the Secretary of
Commerce, Jan. 20, 1921, General Correspondence
68636/3, Office of the Secretary, RG 40, NA;
Washington Post, Jan. 11, 1921; Washington
Herald, Jan. 11, 1921.
10.
Washington Post, Jan. 11, 1921; Washington
Star, Jan. 11, 1921; Testimony of William M.
Lytle, Chief Clerk, Bureau of Navigation, Testimony
of Chancellor, Watchman, Office of the Solicitor's
Inquiry Concerning Origin of the Fire in the
Department of Commerce Building on January 10, 1921,
made January 11, 1921, and Report, E. M. Libbey to
the Secretary of Commerce, Jan. 20, 1921, General
Correspondence 68636/3, Office of the Secretary, RG
40, NA.
11. Washington Post, Jan. 11, 1921; Washington
Star, Jan. 11, 1921; Washington Herald,
Jan. 11, 1921; J. W. Alexander, Secretary of
Commerce, to Harry Wardman, Jan. 22, 1921, General
Correspondence 68636/3, Office of the Secretary, RG
40, NA; New York Times, Jan. 11, 1921,
quoted in O'Mahony, "Lost But Not Forgotten," p.
335.
Chief Engineer Parsons claimed the water was 14-16 inches
deep when he inspected it on January 11. See
Testimony of John Parsons, Chief Engineer and
Electrician, Office of the Solicitor's Inquiry
Concerning the Origin of the Fire in the Department
of Commerce Building on January 10, 1921, made
January 11, 1921, General Correspondence 68636/3,
Office of the Secretary, RG 40, NA.
12. Washington Herald, Jan. 11, 1921; Sam L. Rogers
to the Secretary of Commerce, Jan. 11, 1921, and
Testimony of John Parsons, Chief Engineer and
Electrician, Office of the Solicitor's Inquiry
Concerning the Origin of the Fire in the Department
of Commerce Building on January 10, 1921, General
Correspondence 68636/3, Office of the Secretary, RG
40, NA.
Other later estimates place the destruction at 15-25%. See
Evangeline Thurber, "The 1890 Census Records of the
Veterans of the Union Army," NGS Quarterly
34 (March 1946): 8. G. M. Brumbaugh, editor of the
NGS Quarterly, claimed in April 1921 that the fire
destroyed records of about 6,000 enumeration
districts and badly charred about 2,000 other
districts out of some 41,000 districts, although he
does not provide the source of his data. See G. M.
Brumbaugh, M.D., to Senator Miles Poindexter, Apr.
8, 1921, and G. M. Brumbaugh, to Herbert Putnam,
Librarian of Congress, Apr. 8, 1921, folder "Census
of 1890," Alphabetical Subject File, Records of the
Bureau of the Census, RG 29, NA.
13. Washington Post, Jan. 11, 1921; Washington
Star, Jan. 11, 1921; New York American,
Jan. 11, 1921.
14. Rogers reported the following "number of bound
volumes and of portfolios of census schedules which
were damaged by water in the vault in the basement
of the Commerce Building during the fire of January
10": census volumes from the 1830 census (6 states,
53 volumes), 1840 census (7 states, 65 volumes),
1880 census (20 states, 211 volumes), 1900 census
(17 states and the Indian Territory, 633 volumes),
and 1910 census (48 states and the District of
Columbia, 7,957 volumes). He noted that it would be
impossible to tell the extent of the damage until
the schedules were taken out of the vault, dried,
and examined. Sam L. Rogers to the Secretary of
Commerce, Jan. 11, 1921, General Correspondence
68636/3, Office of the Secretary, RG 40, NA;
Washington Herald, Jan. 11, 1921.
15. J. W. Alexander to Hon. Wesley L. Jones, Feb. 2, 1921,
"Report Concerning the Fire in the Basement of the
Department of Commerce Building on the Afternoon of
January 10, 1921," Jan. 20, 1921, and Testimony of
John Parsons, Chief Engineer and Electrician, Office
of the Solicitor's Inquiry Concerning Origin of the
Fire in the Department of Commerce Building on
January 10, 1921, made January 11, 1921, General
Correspondence 68636/3, Office of the Secretary, RG
40, NA; Washington Star, Jan. 13, 14, 1921.
Mrs. J. C. Drysdale noted that there had been fires in the
three most critical sources of her heirship
evidence: in the Census Bureau, in the Capitol at
Virginia, and at the Old City Hall in Columbus, OH.
"Another fact that makes these three fires appear as
the work of an incendiary is the fact that they were
almost simultaneous, just enough time between for
one man to travel from Va. to Washington, and from
there to Columbus, and then to Cleveland to get his
reward." Mrs. J. C. Drysdale to T. G. Fitzgerald,
Mar. 31, 1921, General Correspondence 68636/3,
Office of the Secretary, RG 40, NA.
16.Washington Star, Jan. 11, 14, 1921;
Washington Post, Jan. 11, 1921; Washington
Herald, Jan. 11, 1921; Congressional
Record, 66th Cong., 3d sess., 1921, Vol. 60,
No. 29, p. 1320; "Report Concerning the Fire in the
Basement of the Department of Commerce Building on
the Afternoon of January 10, 1921," Jan. 20, 1921,
Report, E. M. Libbey to the Secretary of Commerce,
Jan. 20, 1921, and Testimony of Edward M.
Chancellor, Watchman, Office of the Solicitor's
Inquiry Concerning Origin of the Fire in the
Department of Commerce Building on January 10, 1921,
made January 11, 1921, General Correspondence
68636/3, Office of the Secretary, RG 40, NA.
17. "Report Concerning the Fire in the Basement of the
Department of Commerce Building on the Afternoon of
January 10, 1921," Jan. 20, 1921, Testimony of John
Parsons, Chief Engineer and Electrician, Testimony
of Walter Pumphrey, Chief Watchman, Testimony of W.
S. Erwin, Clerk in the Supply Division, Office of
the Solicitor's Inquiry Concerning Origin of the
Fire in the Department of Commerce Building on
January 10, 1921, made January 11, 1921, E. M.
Libbey to the Secretary of Commerce, Jan. 20, 1921;
General Correspondence 68636/3, Office of the
Secretary, RG 40, NA; Washington Star, Jan.
13, 1921.
18. Report, E. M. Libbey to the Secretary of Commerce,
Jan. 20, 1921, E. M. Libbey to Charles E. Stewart,
Chief Clerk, Department of Justice, Apr. 16, 1921,
General Correspondence 68636/3, Office of the
Secretary, RG 40, NA.
19. Washington Star, Jan. 24, 1921.
20. William C. Redfield, to J. W. Alexander, Jan. 12,
1921, and Washington Star, Jan. 11, 1921,
General Correspondence 68636/3, Office of the
Secretary, RG 40, NA; J. Franklin Jameson to Hoover,
May 11, 1921, Hoover to Jameson, May 14, 1921,
Jameson to Hoover, May 21, 1921, Hoover-Jameson
Correspondence, Herbert Hoover Library, West Branch,
IA.
21. Washington Star, Jan. 13, 16, 17, 1921;
Washington Post, Jan. 11, 1921; General
Correspondence 68636/3, Office of the Secretary, RG
40, NA.
22. Washington Star, Jan. 24, 29, 1921; S. W.
Stratton [?], Bureau of Standards, to Secretary of
Commerce, Jan. 26, 1921, General Correspondence
68636/3, Office of the Secretary, RG 40, NA; various
correspondence, G. M. Brumbaugh, M.D., editor,
NGS Quarterly, to Senator Miles Poindexter,
Apr. 8, 1921, National Genealogical Society
Resolutions to Save the Population Census of 1890,
Washington, DC, Apr. 2, 1921, Resolution, Apr. 22,
1921, signed by Emma L. Strider, Register General of
the Daughters of the American Revolution, et al.,
folder "Census of 1890," box 9, Alphabetical Subject
File, entry 160, RG 29, NA.
23. Herbert Hoover told inquirers that there must be
some "mis-impression about this matter as I have no
notion of destroying any records." He also noted
that the records were in constant jeopardy, placed
as they were in a temporary war building. Herbert
Hoover to Burton L. French, May 6, 1921, and sheet,
"Census of 1890," n.d., folder "Census of 1890,"
Alphabetical Subject File, entry 160, RG 29, NA.
24. W. M. Steuart to the Secretary of Commerce, May 3, 1921,
folder "Census of 1890," box 9, Alphabetical Subject
File, entry 160, RG 29, NA; Annual Report of the
Director of the Census to the Secretary of Commerce
for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1922 (1922),
p. 26.
25. Disposition of Useless Papers in the Department of
Commerce, 2d sess., No. 2080; Thurber, "The 1890
Census," p. 8; Note, n.d., signed E.L.Y, folder
"Census of 1890,
E.L.Y. is presumably Evelyn L. Yeomans, on the staff of the
Geography Division from 1899 to 1941, who
"apparently maintained the Division files and
answered requests for information from and about the
old census schedules." See Katherine H. Davidson and
Charlotte B. Ashby, comps., Records of the
Bureau of Census: National Archives Preliminary
Inventory 161 (1964), p. 53.
26. A few schedules from Illinois are reported accessioned in
the Eighth Annual Report of the Archivist of the
United States for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30,
1942 (1943), p. 71. See also Final Report on
Transfer, Accession No. 947 Recommendation on
Transfer, by Robert Claus, Acting Associate
Archivist, Job 42-154, Jan. 22, 1942, Accession 947
Dossier, NA.
27. The accession dossier notes some 74,344 original copies
of the "Eleventh Census of the United States,
Special Schedules," in the accession. This number
was based on the preliminary estimate of schedules
given by the Veterans Administration. Recommendation
on Transfer, Dorothy Hill, Mar. 24, 1943, Final
Report on Transfer, Dorothy Hill, June 17, 1943, and
Frank T. Hines, Administrator, Veterans
Administration, to Solon J. Buck, Archivist of the
United States, Sept. 14, 1942, Job 43-74, Accession
1369 Dossier, NA.
28. By 1890, more than 250,000 claims had been rejected or
were awaiting adjudication in the Pension Office
because witnesses to support the claims could not be
located. See Thurber, "The 1890 Census," p. 7;
Recommendation on Transfer, Dorothy Hill, Mar. 24,
1943, Job 43-74, Accession 1369 Dossier, NA; Carroll
D. Wright to the Secretary of the Interior, Nov. 18,
1893, Records Relating to the 11th (1890) Census,
1889 1893, Records Relating to Decennial Censuses,
Patents and Miscellaneous Division, RG 48, NA.
29. Porter to Hale, Dec. 12, 1889, Records Relating to
the 11th (1890) Census, 1889-1893, Records Relating
to Decennial Censuses, Patents and Miscellaneous
Division, RG 48, NA; introduction to Special
Schedules of the Eleventh Census (1890) Enumerating
Union Veterans and Widows of Union Veterans of the
Civil War (National Archives Microfilm
Publication M123), p. ii.
30. Wright and Hunt, History and Growth, p.
187.
31. 12 Stat. L. 566, as quoted in Gustavus A. Weber and
Laurence F. Schmeckebier, The Veterans
Administration: Its History, Activities, and
Organization (1934), p. 40.
32. Enumerators received five cents (in per capita
payment areas) for each record on the special
schedule for surviving veterans, possibly
encouraging additional or incorrect entries. Others
claim the incorrect entries resulted from improper
or imprecise phrasing of the question regarding
veterans' service. Wright and Hunt, History and
Growth, p. 72.
33. Susan
Arnold, Pennsylvania, Special Schedules of the
Eleventh Census, M123, roll 91.
34. Eliza Smith, Pennsylvania, roll 91; Margaret Montgomery,
Pennsylvania, roll 91; Widow, Wyoming, roll 117; and
Pate Halberts, Ohio, roll 73, all on Special
Schedules of the Eleventh Census, M123.
35. Allan T. Hobbs, Utah Territory, Special Schedules of
the Eleventh Census, M123, roll 103.
36. William Martin, North Carolina, roll 58; James
Stabus, Ohio, roll 73; Bernard Todd, Pennsylvania,
Jackson Mitchell, Pennsylvania, roll 81; and Samuel
Polite, Marcus Moultair, and August Gadson, roll 93,
all on Special Schedules of the Eleventh Census,
M123. Wright and Hunt, History and Growth,
pp. 198-199.
37. Dennis Arnold, Maryland, roll 10, and William
Luilbett, Jacob Lasa, Missouri, roll 32, all on
Special Schedules of the Eleventh Census, M123.
38. William Robertson, Oklahoma Territory, Roll 76,
M123; Brown, North Carolina, Special Schedules
of the Eleventh Census, M123, roll 57.
39. Thurber, "The 1890 Census," pp. 7-8; Letter, Acting
Superintendent of Census to the Secretary of the
Interior, Sept. 12, 1893, and Carroll D. Wright to
Secretary of the Interior, Nov. 18, 1893, Records
Relating to the 11th (1890) Census, 1889-1893,
Records Relating to Decennial Censuses, Patents and
Miscellaneous Division, RG 48, NA; introduction to Special Schedules of the Eleventh Census,
M123, pp. ii-iii; Holt, The Bureau of the
Census, p. 30; typewritten note, E.L.Y, Aug.
29, 1934, folder "Census of 1890," Alphabetical
Subject File, RG 29, NA; Routing Slip, Dorothy J.
Hill, 4-26-43, Job 43-74, Accession 1369 Dossier,
NA.
40. Carroll D. Wright to the Secretary of the Interior,
Nov. 18, 1893, Records Relating to the 11th (1890)
Census, 1889-1893, Records Relating to Decennial
Censuses, Patents and Miscellaneous Division, RG 48,
NA; Thurber, "The 1890 Census," p. 9; Wright and
Hunt, History and Growth, p. 75.
In the printed reports of the commissioner of pensions for
the fiscal years 1895 and 1896, it was stated that
this division had made some 437,538 additions to the
cards in the "service files." See Job 43-74,
Accession 1369 Dossier, NA.
41. Acting Superintendent of Census to Secretary of
Interior, Sept. 20, 1893, Acting Superintendent of
Census to the Secretary of the Interior, Sep. 12,
1893, and Carroll D. Wright to the Secretary of the
Interior, Nov. 18, 1893, Records Relating to the
11th (1890) Census, 1889-1893, Records Relating to
Decennial Censuses, Patents and Miscellaneous
Division, RG 48, NA; Thurber, "The 1890 Census," p.
8; Holt, The Bureau of the Census, p. 30;
typewritten note, E.L.Y, Aug. 29, 1934, folder
"Census of 1890," Alphabetical Subject File, RG 29,
NA; introduction to Special Schedules of the
Eleventh Census, M123, p. iii; routing slip,
Dorothy J. Hill, 4-26-43, Job 43-74, Accession 1369
Dossier, NA.
42. Introduction to Special Schedules of the
Eleventh Census, M123, p. iii; Holt, Bureau
of the Census, p. 30; typewritten note, E.L.Y.,
Aug. 29, 1934, folder "Census of 1890," Alphabetical
Subject File, RG 29, NA; Recommendation on Transfer,
Dorothy Hill, Mar. 24, 1943, routing slip, Apr. 23,
1943, Final Report on Transfer, June 17, 1943, and
interoffice communication, Arthur H. Leavitt, May
20, 1943, Job 43-74, Accession 1369 Dossier, NA;
Ninth Annual Report of the Archivist for the Fiscal
Year Ending June 1943 (1944), p. 86; Wright and
Hunt, History and Growth, p. 79.
The records apparently came to the National Archives
from the Dependents Claims Service at the Veterans
Administration. Final Report on Transfer, June 17,
1943; routing slip, Apr. 26, 1943, Job 43-74,
Dossier, Accession 1369, NA.
43. Introduction to Special Schedules of the
Eleventh Census, M123, p. iii.
44. Guide to Genealogical Research in the National
Archives (1985), pp. 25-35.
45. Microfilmed copies are available via the Family
History Library in Salt Lake City and the California
section of the State Library in Sacramento. Wendy L.
Elliott, "'Great Register Project' Aims to Replace
Missing 1890 Census," Federation of Genealogical
Societies Forum 4 (Summer 1992): 3 4; Alice
Eichholz, ed., Redbook: American State, County,
and Town Sources (1989), p. 32; Ann S. Lainhart, State Census Records (1992).
46. J. W. Alexander to William C. Redfield, Jan. 17, 1921,
General Correspondence 68636/3, Office of the
Secretary, RG 40, NA.
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