Census Schedules at UGA Libraries: Population Schedules

The information in the decennial census population schedules was subject to change from census year to census year, however a core of demographic information was generally collected every census

• age
• sex
• race
• family relationship
• and many other items depending on the census year...
  • occupation, education, whether renter or owner, year of immigration, etc. 

The members of each family within each housing unit are grouped together starting with the head of family for whom the first and last name is given, followed by a separate row for each of the other members in the household, generally identified by the first name or in many cases by initials only.  A housing unit might contain one or more families as well as single persons not obviously related to any particular family in the unit.  These individuals might represent independent boarders, employees, etc.  A family listing can begin on any row of the schedule page.

To see facsimiles of the population schedules and discussion of changes between each census see Measuring America: The Decennial Censuses From 1790 to 2000.

Ancestry Library Edition (in GALILEO@uga) provides the most complete collection digitally.  Available off campus to UGA faculty, students, and staff.  Other researchers must be on campus.

On the Ancestry Library Edition home page find the Search Census box and click Search Now.  You can now search for individuals across all the census schedules.  Or, you can browse the schedules in sequential order for a specific town/district: Scroll down to 'Included Data Collections' in the lower left and choose from among the schedules listed. The population schedules are labeled '[year] United States Federal Census'.  The 'Browse this collection' box will now appear on the right side of the screen.  Just follow the steps.

Alternate way to access: Main Library basement, Microfilm cabinets.  Readers & digital scanner/printers are located near the elevators.  See the grid below for call numbers and holdings.

Reels for each census year are arranged alphabetically by county.  A single reel may contain one or more counties. The label on the reel box gives the range of counties covered. 

For users of the microfilm, there are also name indexes called "Soundex" on microfilm which provide an index to the many spelling variants of names found in the censuses.  These reels are filed after their respective sets of population schedules.  A brief printed guide to using the Soundex system is located on top of the microfilm cabinets. For some researchers, the Soundex system might offer a useful alternative for tracking down the census records of individuals with surnames with many spelling variants.