Lost in the 90’s

Why is there no 1890 census?

1890—destroyed/damaged by fire, in Commerce Dept. 1921. 1% survived, 6,160 individuals.

1890 Census was taken beginning 1 June 1890, for two weeks to thirty days. The following information was recorded by the census taker.

• Name
• Age
• Sex
• Address
• Number of families in the house
• Number of persons in the house
• Number of persons in the family
• Relationship to head of family
• Race: white, black, mulatto, quadroon, octoroon, Chinese, Japanese, or Indian
• Marital status
• Whether married during the year
• Total children born to mother
• Number of children living
• Birthplace
• Birthplace of parents
• If foreign born, how many years in the United States
• Naturalized or in the process of naturalization
• Profession, trade, or occupation
• Months unemployed during census year
• Able to read and write
• Speak English; if not, language or dialect spoken
• Suffering from acute or chronic disease (if so, name of disease and length
• of time afflicted)
• Defective in mind, sight, hearing, or speech
• Crippled, maimed, or deformed (with name of defect)
• Prisoner, convict, homeless child, or pauper
• Home is rented or owned by the head or a member of the family
• (if so, whether mortgaged)
• Head of family a farmer, if he or a family member rented or owned the farm
• If mortgaged, the post office address of the owner

There were a few things that made this census unique to others in the past.
1. Listed the address of the individual
2. Listed if a person was a soldier, sailor, or a marine during the Civil War
3. Listed whether they were Union or Confederate
4. Listed whether they were a widow of a veteran
5. Listed, if a mother, the number of children she had and how many 
   were living
6. If foreign born, the individual was asked how many years they had 
   been inthe United States and if they were naturalized or 
   in the process of being naturalized
7. Lists what language the individual speaks
8. Lists number of months employed
9. Asks if the home is rented or owned (and mortgaged)
10. Listed individuals in Army forts, US vessels, Navy Yards, & prisons.
11. Most schedules destroyed by fire in 1921
12. Special 1890 schedules enumerating Union veterans & their widows from the 
    Civil War are sometimes used as census substitute.

If you are lost in the timeframe of the 1890 census , here are some useful tips to follow.

1890 Surviving schedules The following population schedules have survived for the 1890 federal census:

Alabama Perry County, Perryville beat number 11 and Severe beat number 8.

District of Columbia Q. Thirteenth, Fourteenth, R.Q. Corcoran, Fifteenth, S.R. and Riggs streets, Johnson Avenue, and S Street

Georgia Muscogee County, Columbus Township

Where do I come from?

This is me, about age 1. I grew up in Tampa, Florida. My parents are Hershel Harvey Pickens and Alberta Louise Dean. I have one sister, Christina Lynn Pickens.

My interest in genealogy began at about age thirteen. I was at my paternal grandmother’s house , eating lunch with her. I remember asking about her mother.  ” What was your mother’s name”, I asked. She said it as if she had not said her name in a long time. ” Maude, her name was Maude Jeffers” . She then told me that she had died at an early age. That was all I knew or was ever told. Years later, that would peak my interest again.