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Archiver > BROWN > 1998-10 > 0907923450


From: Diana Gale Matthiesen <>
Subject: Re: [BROWN-L] Help Please
Date: Fri, 09 Oct 1998 04:57:30 -0400


The Federal Census was mandated by the U.S. Constitution, so the first one was in 1790. Census data are not released for 72 years, so the most recent one available to the public is 1920. The entire 1890 Census was lost in Washington (long story), though a few scattered counties happened to keep copies of their local records, and attempts have been made to reconstruct it through tax lists, etc.

There are *many* avenues to getting Census data. My suggestion is to start by going to Cyndi's List and checking our her links to census information. The URL is:

http://www.CyndisList.com/census.htm

If you are not familiar with Cyndi's List, it is a *fabulous* gateway to genealogy resources. The home page is:

http://www.CyndisList.com

Keep in mind that there are two basic kinds of Census information being offered: one is copies of the original census pages themselves (usually on microfilm or microfiche, a few are on CD-ROM) or transcriptions of the full data; the other is *indexes* to the original census records, usually just to the heads of households, not other family members. In other words, the indexes do not contain the full information; you still need to get a copy of the original census page, but at least the index tells you what page in what book the record is in.

Hope this helps.

Diana

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