Most genealogists know the tragic story of the 1890 census, which was destroyed by fire and water damage in its Commerce Department storage facility. But here’s what many don’t realize: other federal censuses have significant gaps too, with entire states missing from various years.
The following information is excerpted from this Family History Daily blog post.
1790 – Total loss of records in the following states/territories: DE, GA, KY, NJ, TN, VA.
1800 – Total loss of records in the following states/territories: GA, KY, NJ, VA, TN.
1810 – Total loss of records in the following states/territories: Washington D.C., GA, NJ, OH, TN.
1820 – Partial or total loss of records in the following states/territories: Arkansas Territory, Missouri territory, NJ, AL (half), TN (approximately 20 eastern counties).
1830 – Partial loss of records in the following states/territories: MA, MD, MS.
1890 – Information on approximately 6000 individuals still exists in small portions of the following states: AL, Washington D.C., GA, IL, MN, NJ, NY, NC, OH, SD, TX.
You may also want to read this article about The Forgotten Federal Census of 1885
Submitted by Robin McCarthy (with assistance from Claude.ai)
