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General Information
The United States had grown to 44 states between 1880 and 1890, with six new additions to the Union: Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, Idaho and Wyoming. In 1889, Oklahoma Territory was created but represented only a part of the present-day state, as Indian tribal areas made up the rest of that area. In addition, the territories of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah were enumerated in 1890, as was unorganized Alaska.
Content
Unlike any earlier census, the 1890 format was on one full sheet per household. The detailed information captured for every household was extensive:
- Address of the house
- Number of persons in the household
- Names
- Whether a soldier, sailor or marine during the Civil War and whether Union or Confederate
- Whether the widow of a veteran
- Relationship to head of family
- Race
- Sex
- Age
- Marital status and whether married during the previous year
- If a mother, how many children, and how many living
- Birthplace and birthplace of father and mother
- If foreign born, how many years in the U.S.
- hether naturalized or in the process of naturalization
- Profession, trade or occupation
- Number of months unemployed during the previous year
- Ability to read and write
- Ability to speak English, if not, language or dialect spoken
- Whether suffering from an acute or chronic disease, if so, name of disease and length of time afflicted
- Whether defective in mind, sight, hearing, or speech, or whether crippled, maimed, or deformed, with the name of defect
- Whether a prisoner, convict, homeless child or pauper
- Whether the home was rented or owned and whether it was mortgaged
- Whether a farmer, and if so, whether rented or owned – if mortgaged, the post office address of the owner
Census Losses
Over 99 percent of the 1890 population schedules were destroyed in a fire, which took place in January 1921 at the Commerce Building in Washington, D.C. Of the 62,979,766 persons enumerated in 1890, a total of 6,160 names could be extracted from the surviving schedules. These names were all indexed and microfilmed as National Archives Series M496 on two rolls of film.
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