Alabama CensusEdit This Page

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Latest revision as of 13:56, 23 August 2012

United States   U.S. Census   Alabama   Census

Contents 1 Online Alabama indexes and images 2 Federal population schedules 2.1 Microfilm images 2.2 Indexes: fiche, film, or book 3 Federal non-population schedules 3.1 Online indexes and images 3.2 Microfilm images 3.3 Indexes: fiche, film, or book 4 State, Territorial, and Colonial Censuses 5 Existing and lost censuses 6 Why use a census? 7 More about censuses 8 Sources and footnotes

Tips If at first you don't find a name, try again under another spelling. Photocopy each ancestor's census. Identify where you found it. Look for an ancestor in every census during her or his lifetime. On the family group record show each person's census listings. Study others in the same household, neighbors, and anyone with the similar names nearby on the census in community context. For a list of the exact date of each federal census, click here.

Online Alabama indexes and images

Federal population schedules

Microfilm images

Indexes: fiche, film, or book

For a list of microform and book indexes for the population schedules of Alabama, click here.

Federal non-population schedules

Online indexes and images

Microfilm images

Indexes: fiche, film, or book

For a list of microform and book indexes for the non-population schedules of Alabama, click here.

State, Territorial, and Colonial Censuses

Censuses were taken in Alabama in different years than the federal censuses. These censuses may have different data compared to federal censuses. Check these censuses for more information on a family.

• 1907^[10]
• 1866 Counties: Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh, Coosa, Covington, Dale, Dallas, De Kalb, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Henry, Jackson, Jefferson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Marion, Marshall, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Perry, Pickens, Pike, Randolph, Russell, Shelby, St Clair, Sumter, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, Walker, Washington, Wilcox, Winston^{[10][11][12][13]}
• 1861-1865 Covington County^[12]
• 1855 Counties: Autauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Blount, Butler, Calhoun, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh, Coosa, Covington, Dale, Dallas, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Henry, Jackson, Jefferson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Marion, Marshall, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Perry, Pickens, Pike, Randolph, Russell, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, Walker, Washington, Wilcox, Winston. Has a printed index.^{[10][11][12][13]}
• 1850 Counties: Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Benton, Blount, Butler, Chambers, Cherokee, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh, Coosa, Covington, Dale, Dallas, De Kalb, Franklin, Greene, Henry, Jefferson, Lawrence, Macon, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Perry, Pike, Randolph, Sumter, Tuscaloosa, Washington, and Wilcox^[10][13]
• 1823^[10]
• 1821^[10]
• 1820 Counties: Baldwin, Conecuh, Dallas, Franklin, Limestone, St. Clair, Shelby, Wilcox^[10][13][14]

• Alabama Census Returns, 1820 and an Abstract of Federal Census of Alabama, 1830. Alabama Historical Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 3, 1944. Free Name Search^[15]; publisher's bookstore: Genealogical.com ; FHL Book 976.1 X2o 1820 ; digital version at Ancestry ($).

• 1818 partial^[10]
• 1816^[12]
• 1809 Madison County^[12]
• 1805 Mobile City^[12]
• 1789 Mobile City^[12]
• 1787 Mobile City^[12]
• 1786 Mobile City^[12]
• 1785 Tensas^[16]

Confederate Veterans’ Censuses

1927, 1921, 1907--Special censuses of Confederate veterans who were receiving a pension were taken. Microfilm copies are available at the Alabama Department of Archives and History at http://www.archives.state.al.us/, and at the Family History Library:

• Alabama. State Auditor. Confederate Soldiers in Alabama: 1907–1927. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1988. (On ten FHL Films beginning with 1533727.)

The 1927 census contains the veteran’s name, his widow’s name, her age and birth date, and their marriage date. The records are arranged by county, then alphabetically by the name of the widow. This series is not complete. Some of the returns are found in the Confederate Pension Applications.

The 1921 census provides each veteran’s name, place and date of birth, place of residence, length of Alabama residence, occupation, wife’s age and place of birth, marriage date and place, names of living children, occupation, and post office box. The forms also contain the veteran’s rank, company, regiment, captain and colonel’s name, battles, wounds, captures, imprisonments, and transfers.

The 1907 census includes each person’s name, place of residence, date and place of birth, rank, date of entry into military service, date and place of discharge or separation, and name of military unit. The 1907 lists have been abstracted, indexed, and published. They are available in:

• 1907 Alabama Census of Confederate Soldiers. Cullman, Alabama: Gregath, 1982. Five Volumes. (FHL Book 976.1 X22c 1907; on four films beginning with 1421815 item 23; on eight fiche beginning with 6093367.) The information covers the following counties: Bibb, Calhoun, Chilton, Choctaw, Cleburne, Coffee, Coosa, Cullman, Dale, Jackson, Lawrence, Lee, Marion, Mobile, Monroe, Morgan, Talladega, and Tallapoosa Counties. The volumes are alphabetical by county. This book gives the soldier’s name, full birth date, city and state of birth, when and where enlisted, unit, and mustering-out date.

Existing and lost censuses

For a list of available and missing Alabama censuses, click here.

Why use a census?

A well-indexed census is one of the easiest ways to locate where an ancestor's family lived and when they lived there. You can also use censuses to follow the changes in a family over time, and identify neighbors. These and other clues provided by censuses are important because they help find additional kinds of records about the family.

More about censuses

Click here for additional details about how to use censuses, such as:

• index searching tips
• analyzing and using what you find
• census accuracy
• historical background
• contents of various census years and types

Wiki articles describing online collections are found at:

• Alabama State Census, 1855 (FamilySearch Historical Records)
• Alabama State Census, 1866 (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Sources and footnotes

1. ↑ FamilySearch, a free online service of the Family History Library, including free images of many federal censuses, including an index of the 1880 federal census of the United States; connected with 1880 census images provided by Ancestry.com, a subscription site.
2. ↑ Internet Archive, a free online service includes free images of most of the federal censuses.
3. ↑ HeritageQuest has arranged with many subscribing public libraries in the United States to allow users free access on home computers by means of their personal library card numbers. HeritageQuest provides images of all surviving 1790 to 1930 federal censuses, and indexes to many but not all of them.
4. ↑ Fold3, formerly known as Footnote.com, a subscription site partnering with the National Archives and includes some federal censuses. Free access is available at many public libraries.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Ancestry.com, a subscription site that provides online indexes and images to all surviving federal and many state census records, among other sources. They have three online editions: (1) an FHL edition free only at the Family History Library and a few Family History Centers, (2) a slightly smaller Library edition free only at some public libraries, and (3) a Home edition subscription service for individuals.
6. ↑ Archives.com, a subscription site that provides online indexes and images to all surviving federal census records, among other sources.
7. ↑ FamilyLink.com, a subscription site that provides online images (and some indexes) to all surviving federal and many state census records, among other sources.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5} Ancestry claims to have indexed all mortality schedules. The Alabama 1870 and 1880 mortality schedules to not appear to be indexed online.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} HeritageQuest has slave owner schedule images only.
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7} New Horizons Genealogy, "Alabama State and Colonial Census Records" in Existing Colonial, Territorial and State Census Records [Internet site] at http://newhorizonsgenealogicalservices.com/al-census.htm (accessed 18 November 2009).
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Ann S. Lainhart, State Census Records (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1992)[[FHL book 973 X2Lai]], 13-14
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 12.8} Family History Library, State Census Register (Salt Lake City: FHL, 2005), 1: 2-43.
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3} Ancestry.com "Alabama State Census, 1820-1866" at http://search.ancestryinstitution.com/Browse/list.aspx?dbid=1576 (accessed 30 July 2009).
14. ↑ Emily Anne Croom, The Genealogist's Companion and Sourcebook (Cincinnati, Ohio: Betterway Books, 1994)[FHL REF book 929.1 C882g], 38, cites a published version of this census in Alabama Historical Quarterly (Fall 1944) 6:339-515.
15. ↑ Name Search at Genealogical.com is a comprehensive name index to 638 books and CDs published or reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Company (now Genealogical.com). For a complete list of the works included, see Publications in Name Search at Genealogical.com
16. ↑ Winston DeVille, "Some Anglo-Americans in the Deep South, 1785," Genealogical Helper 36, number 5 (Sept.–Oct. 1982): 5–6. (FHL Book 929.05 G286). There are 46 men listed.

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