1830 U.S. Federal Census
Prior to the passage of the census act authorizing the fifth census in 1830, President Adams, in his fourth address to the U.S. Congress on December 28, 1828, suggested the census commence earlier in the year than August 1. He also proposed that the collection of age data should be extended from infancy, in intervals of 10 years, to the “utmost boundaries of life”. These changes were incorporated into the census act of March 23, 1830. As in the previous census, the enumeration was made by an actual inquiry by the marshals or assistants at every dwelling house, or, as the law stated, by “personal” inquiry of the head of every family, and began on June 1 (instead of the first Monday of August as in previous censuses). Because of delays in the compilation of the census returns, the filing date was extended to August 1, 1831.2
There are no state or district wide losses, however, there were some countywide losses in Massachusetts, Maryland and Mississippi.3
Population Census Items
Name of family head; age; sex; race; foreigners not naturalized; slaves; industry.1
** Click here for a FREE 1830 Census form from Ancestry.com (Adobe Acrobat required)
<< United States Federal Census
1 Availability of Census Records About Individuals, U.S. Census Bureau Web Site, www.census.gov
2 Census of Population and Housing, U.S. Census Bureau Web Site, www.census.gov
3 The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy by Loretto Dennis Szucs; edited by Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking (Salt Lake City, UT: Ancestry Incorporated, 1997).
