"First in the Path of the Firemen" 

The Fate of the 1890 Population Census 

By Kellee Blake 

NARA Prologue, Spring, 1996, vol. 28, no.1 

Of the decennial population census schedules, perhaps none might have been 

more critical to studies of immigration, industrialization, westward migration, and 

characteristics of the general population than the Eleventh Census of the United States, 

taken in June 1890. United States residents completed millions of detailed questionnaires, 

yet only a fragment of the general population schedules and an incomplete set of special 

schedules enumerating Union veterans and widows are available today. Reference 

sources routinely dismiss the 1890 census records as "destroyed by fire" in 1921. 

Examination of the records of the Bureau of Census and other federal agencies, however, 

reveals a far more complex tale. This is a genuine tragedy of records--played out before 

Congress fully established a National Archives--and eternally anguishing to researchers.  

As there was not a permanent Census Bureau until 1902, the Department of the 

Interior administered the Eleventh Census. Political patronage was "the most common 

order for appointment" of the nearly 47,000 enumerators; no examination was required. 

British journalist Robert Porter initially supervised the staff for the Eleventh Census, and 

statistician Carroll Wright later replaced him.(1) This was the first U.S. census to use 

Herman Hollerith's electrical tabulation system, a method by which data representing 

certain population characteristics were punched into cards and tabulated. The censuses of 

1790 through 1880 required all or part of schedules to be filed in county clerks' offices. 

Ironically, this was not required in 1890, and the original (and presumably only) copies of 

the schedules were forwarded to Washington.(2) 

June 1, 1890, was the official census date, and all responses were to reflect the 

status of the household on that date. The 1890 census law allowed enumerators to 

distribute schedules in advance and later gather them up (as was done in England), 

supposedly giving individuals adequate time to accurately provide information. Evidently 

this method was very little used. As in other censuses, if an individual was absent, the 

enumerator was authorized to obtain information from the person living nearest the 

family.(3) 

The 1890 census schedules differed from previous ones in several ways. For the 

first time, enumerators prepared a separate schedule for each family. The schedule 

contained expanded inquiries relating to race (white, black, mulatto, quadroon, octoroon, 

Chinese, Japanese, or Indian), home ownership, ability to speak English, immigration, 

and naturalization. Enumerators asked married women for the number of children born 

and the number living at the time of the census to determine fecundity. The 1890 

schedules also included a question relating to Civil War service.(4) 

Enumerators generally completed their counting by July 1 of 1890, and the U.S. 

population was returned at nearly 63 million (62,979,766). Complaints about accuracy 

and undercounting poured into the census office, as did demands for recounts. The 1890 

census seemed mired in fraud and political intrigue. New York State officials were 

accused of bolstering census numbers, and the intense business competition between 

Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, resulted in no fewer than nineteen indictments 

against Minneapolis businessmen for allegedly adding more than 1,100 phony names to 

the census. Perhaps not surprisingly, the St. Paul businessmen brought the federal court 

complaint against the Minneapolis businessmen.(5) 

In March 1896, before final publication of all general statistics volumes, the 

original 1890 special schedules for mortality, crime, pauperism and benevolence, special 

classes (e.g., deaf, dumb, blind, insane), and portions of the transportation and insurance 

schedules were badly damaged by fire and destroyed by Department of the Interior 

order.(6) No damage to the general population schedules was reported at that time. In 

fact, a 1903 census clerk found them to be in "fairly good condition."(7) Despite repeated 

ongoing requests by the secretary of commerce and others for an archives building where 

all census schedules could be safely stored, by January 10, 1921, the schedules could be 

found piled in an orderly manner on closely placed pine shelves in an unlocked file room 

in the basement of the Commerce Building. 

At about five o'clock on that afternoon, building fireman James Foster noticed 

smoke coming through openings around pipes that ran from the boiler room into the file 

room. Foster saw no fire but immediately reported the smoke to the desk watchman, who 

called the fire department.(8) Minutes later, on the fifth floor, a watchman noticed smoke 

in the men's bathroom, took the elevator to the basement, was forced back by the dense 

smoke, and went to the watchman's desk. By then, the fire department had arrived, the 

house alarm was pulled (reportedly at 5:30), and a dozen employees still working on 

upper floors evacuated. A total of three alarms and a general local call were turned in.(9)  

After some setbacks from the intense smoke, firemen gained access to the 

basement. While a crowd of ten thousand watched, they poured twenty streams of water 

into the building and flooded the cellar through holes cut into the concrete floor. The fire 

did not go above the basement, seemingly thanks to a fireproofed floor. By 9:45 p.m. the 

fire was extinguished, but firemen poured water into the burned area past 10:30 p.m. 

Disaster planning and recovery were almost unknown in 1921. With the blaze 

extinguished, despite the obvious damage and need for immediate salvage efforts, the 

chief clerk opened windows to let out the smoke, and except for watchmen on patrol, 

everyone went home.(10) 

The morning after was an archivist's nightmare, with ankle-deep water covering 

records in many areas. Although the basement vault was considered fireproof and 

watertight, water seeped through a broken wired-glass panel in the door and under the 

floor, damaging some earlier and later census schedules on the lower tiers. The 1890 

census, however, was stacked outside the vault and was, according to one source, "first in 

the path of the firemen."(11) That morning, Census Director Sam Rogers reported the 

extensive damage to the 1890 schedules, estimating 25 percent destroyed, with 50 percent 

of the remainder damaged by water, smoke, and fire.(12) Salvage of the watersoaked and 

charred documents might be possible, reported the bureau, but saving even a small part 

would take a month, and it would take two to three years to copy off and save all the 

records damaged in the fire. The preliminary assessment of Census Bureau Clerk T. J. 

Fitzgerald was far more sobering. Fitzgerald told reporters that the priceless 1890 records 

were "certain to be absolutely ruined. There is no method of restoring the legibility of a 

water-soaked volume."(13)  

Four days later, Sam Rogers complained they had not and would not be permitted 

any further work on the schedules until the insurance companies completed their 

examination. Rogers issued a state-by-state report of the number of volumes damaged by 

water in the basement vault, including volumes from the 1830, 1840, 1880, 1900, and 

1910 censuses. The total number of damaged vault volumes numbered 8,919, of which 

7,957 were from the 1910 census. Rogers estimated that 10 percent of these vault 

schedules would have to be "opened and dried, and some of them recopied." Thankfully, 

the census schedules of 1790-1820 and 1850-1870 were on the fifth floor of the 

Commerce Building and reportedly not damaged. The new 1920 census was housed in a 

temporary building at Sixth and B Streets, SW, except for some of the nonpopulation 

schedules being used on the fourth floor.(14) 

Speculation and rumors about the cause of the blaze ran rampant. Some 

newspapers claimed, and many suspected, it was caused by a cigarette or a lighted match. 

Employees were keenly questioned about their smoking habits. Others believed the fire 

started among shavings in the carpenter shop or was the result of spontaneous 

combustion. At least one woman from Ohio felt certain the fire was part of a conspiracy 

to defraud her family of their rightful estate by destroying every vestige of evidence 

proving heirship.(15) Most seemed to agree that the fire could not have been burning 

long and had made quick and intense headway; shavings and debris in the carpenter shop, 

wooden shelving, and the paper records would have made for a fierce blaze. After all, a 

watchman and engineers had been in the basement as late as 4:35 and not detected any 

smoke.(16) Others, however, believed the fire had been burning for hours, considering its 

stubbornness. Although, once the firemen were finished, it was difficult to tell if one spot 

in the files had burned longer than any other, the fire's point of origin was determined to 

have been in the northeastern portion of the file room (also known as the storage room) 

under the stock and mail room.(17) Despite every investigative effort, Chief Census 

Clerk E. M. Libbey reported, no conclusion as to the cause was reached. He pointed to 

the strict rules against smoking, intactness of electrical wires, and noted that no rats had 

been found in the building for two months. He further reasoned that spontaneous 

combustion in bales of waste paper was unlikely, as they were burned on the outside and 

not totally consumed.(18) In the end, even experts from the Bureau of Standards brought 

in to investigate the blaze could not determine the cause.(19) 

The disaster spurred renewed cries and support for a National Archives, notably 

from congressmen, census officials, and longtime archives advocate J. Franklin 

Jameson.(20) It also gave rise to proposals for better records protection in current storage 

spaces. Utah's Senator Reed Smoot, convinced a cigarette caused the fire, prepared a bill 

disallowing smoking in some government buildings. The Washington Post expressed 

outrage that the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were in danger even at the 

moment, being stored at the Department of State in wooden cabinets.(21) 

Meanwhile, the still soggy, "charred about the edges" original and only copies of the 

1890 schedules remained in ruins. At the end of January, the records damaged in the fire 

were moved for temporary storage. Over the next few months, rumors spread that salvage 

attempts would not be made and that Census Director Sam Rogers had recommended that 

Congress authorize destruction of the 1890 census. Prominent historians, attorneys, and 

genealogical organizations wrote to new Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, the 

Librarian of Congress, and other government officials in protest. The National 

Genealogical Society (NGS) and Daughters of the American Revolution formally 

petitioned Hoover and Congress, and the editor of the NGS Quarterly warned that a 

nationwide movement would begin among state societies and the press if Congress 

seriously considered destruction.(22) The content of replies to the groups was invariably 

the same; denial of any planned destruction and calls for Congress to provide for an 

archives building. Herbert Hoover wrote "the actual cost of providing a watchman and 

extra fire service [to protect records] probably amounts to more, if we take the 

government as a whole, than it would cost to put up a proper fire-proof archive 

building."(23) 

Still no appropriation for an archives was forthcoming. By May of 1921 the 

records were still piled in a large warehouse where, complained new census director 

William Steuart, they could not be consulted and would probably gradually deteriorate. 

Steuart arranged for their transfer back to the census building, to be bound where 

possible, but at least put in some order for reference.(24)  

The extant record is scanty on storage and possible use of the 1890 schedules 

between 1922 and 1932 and seemingly silent on what precipitated the following chain of 

events. In December 1932, in accordance with federal records procedures at the time, the 

Chief Clerk of the Bureau of Census sent the Librarian of Congress a list of papers no 

longer necessary for current business and scheduled for destruction. He asked the 

Librarian to report back to him any documents that should be retained for their historical 

interest. Item 22 on the list for Bureau of the Census read "Schedules, Population . . . 

1890, Original." The Librarian identified no records as permanent, the list was sent 

forward, and Congress authorized destruction on February 21, 1933. At least one report 

states the 1890 census papers were finally destroyed in 1935, and a small scribbled note 

found in a Census Bureau file states "remaining schedules destroyed by Department of 

Commerce in 1934 (not approved by the Geographer)."(25) Further study is necessary to 

determine, if possible, what happened to the fervent and vigilant voices that championed 

these schedules in 1921. How were these records overlooked by Library of Congress 

staff? Who in the Census Bureau determined the schedules were useless, why, and when? 

Ironically, just one day before Congress authorized destruction of the 1890 census papers, 

President Herbert Hoover laid the cornerstone for the National Archives Building 

In 1942 the National Archives accessioned a damaged bundle of surviving Illinois 

schedules as part of a shipment of records found during a Census Bureau move. At the 

time, they were believed to be the only surviving fragments.(26) In 1953, however, the 

Archives accessioned an additional set of fragments. These sets of extant fragments are 

from Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, 

Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, and the District of Columbia and have been microfilmed as 

National Archives Microfilm Publication M407 (3 rolls). A corresponding index is 

available as National Archives Microfilm Publication M496 (2 rolls). Both microfilm 

series can be viewed at the National Archives, the regional archives, and several other 

repositories. Before disregarding this census, researchers should always verify that the 

schedules they seek did not survive. There are no fewer than 6,160 names indexed on the 

surviving 1890 population schedules. These are someone's ancestors.  

The Special Enumeration of Union Veterans and Widows  

Often confused with the 1890 census, and more often overlooked or misjudged as 

useless, are nearly seventy-five thousand special 1890 schedules enumerating Union 

veterans and widows of Union veterans.(27) Nearly all of these schedules for the states of 

Alabama through Kansas and approximately half of those for Kentucky appear to have 

been destroyed before transfer of the remaining schedules to the National Archives in 

1943. Nearly all, but fragments for some of these states were accessioned by the National 

Archives as bundle 198. Many reference sources state or speculate that the missing 

schedules were lost in the 1921 fire. The administrative record, however, does not 

support this conclusion.  

The Pension Office requested the special enumeration to help Union veterans 

locate comrades to testify in pension claims and to determine the number of survivors and 

widows for pension legislation. Some congressmen also thought it scientifically useful to 

know the effect of various types of military service upon veterans' longevity.(28) To 

assist in the enumeration, the Pension Office prepared a list of veterans' names and 

addresses from their files and from available military records held by the War 

Department. The superintendent of the census planned to print in volumes the veterans 

information (name, rank, length of service, and post office address) compiled from the 

1890 enumeration and place copies with libraries and veterans organizations so 

individuals could more easily locate their fellow veterans.(29) 

Question 2 on the general population schedules inquired whether the subject had 

been "a soldier, sailor, or marine during the civil war (United States or Confederate) or 

widow of such person." Enumerators were instructed to write "Sol" for soldier, "Sail" for 

sailor, and "Ma" for marine, with "U.S." or "Conf." in parentheses, for example, Sol 

(U.S.) or Sail (Conf.). The letter "W" was added to these designations if the enumerated 

was a widow.(30) According to enumeration instructions, if the veteran or widow 

responded "yes" to Union service, the enumerator produced the veterans schedule, 

marked the family number from the general population schedule, and proceeded to ask 

additional service-related questions. 

The upper half of each page on the veterans schedules lists name, rank, company, 

regiment or vessel, date of enlistment, date of discharge, and length of service. The lower 

half contains the post office address, any disability incurred in the service, and general 

remarks. The question on disability was included because many veterans claimed 

pensions, under an 1862 act, based on service-related disabilities.(31) The "General 

Remarks" column usually provides the most colorful, anecdotal, and meaningful 

information on the schedules. 

Although the special enumeration was intended only for Union veterans of the 

Civil War and their widows, enumerators nevertheless often listed veterans and widows 

of earlier wars as well as Confedederate veterans.(32) Veterans of the War of 1812 are 

sometimes listed, and there are especially numerous entries for Mexican War veterans. 

Susan Arnold of Pennsylvania was listed, though her husband died in New Orleans 

coming home from the Seminole War (1828-1833). 

John Yost is listed as serving in the French army under Maximilian. Several 

sources note that Confederates are inadvertently recorded in this enumeration; actual 

study of the records reveals that there are some Confederates listed for every extant state 

(excluding the fragments on bundle 198). Schedules consisting nearly entirely of 

Confederates are not altogether uncommon, especially in extant schedules of Southern 

states.(33) The Confederate names are sometimes crossed out or marked as errors 

(presumably by census supervisors), but the information is usually readable. 

Listings for widows can also provide telling insights to the veteran's service, her 

life or remarriage, even their relationship. Eliza Smith of Pennsylvania was simply listed 

as the "grass widow of a soldier." A Pennsylvania widow living at the Home for the 

Friendless claimed she knew nothing of her husband's fate but thought him dead. A 

Wyoming widow remembered no particulars, only that her husband wore a "blue coat." 

Enumerators were instructed to list the widow's name above the name of the deceased 

veteran and fill out the record of his service during the war but list her present post office. 

Remarried widows were listed in this manner with their new surname. Dependent 

mothers are also sometimes listed, as in the case of Pate Halberts of Ohio, who knew 

little English, but enough to tell the enumerator her son died in Andersonville.(34) 

Enumerators often noted the battle or circumstances in which a death or disability 

had been incurred, such as "shot dead at Gettysburg, July 3rd 1864" or "lost right arm at 

Resaca." They also had the unenviable task of diagnosing the described ailments such as 

"harte disease," "indestan of stomic," and "thie woond." Men recounted the loss of eyes, 

ears, and appendages. They told of falling from and being trampled by horses, being 

crippled on trains "wrecked by rebels," and going insane from the "noise of war." Allan 

Hobbs of Salt Lake, Utah, claimed partial paralysis of his feet from freezing in Libbey 

Prison, and George Search of Baltimore claimed his constitution was broken after six 

months at Andersonville.(35) The perils of bad wartime medicine are evident as well. 

Many reported blood poisoning or crippling from an impure vaccination. One widow told 

the enumerator her husband died by eating too much morphine. Without a doubt, 

however, the most widespread permanent disabilities reported by the 1890 veterans were 

diarrhea (spelled in many creative ways) and piles. 

The schedules may reveal anecdotal or unique information. They sometimes 

briefly chronicle an individual's military career, like that of William Martin of North 

Carolina, who rose from private to general. Josiah Dunbar's widow claimed her husband 

was one of the first, if not the first, to enlist in his county, and Bernard Todd remembered 

he had played in Custer's band at the Appomattox surrender. Ohioan James Stabus 

admitted he had been captured and paroled by the notorious raider John Hunt Morgan. 

Jackson Mitchell of Pennsylvania said he was born a slave and compelled at first to serve 

in the Confederate army. Others proudly noted their service in the U.S. Colored Troops, 

in specialized units, or as spies. Dennis Arnold of Allegany, Maryland, said he "would go 

again tomorrow." The schedules may even provide clues about enlistment under "secret 

or varied names." For example, Samuel Polite, Marcus Moultair, and August Gadson of 

Sheldonship County, South Carolina, all reported they had enlisted in the Union Army 

under "secret" names, which the enumerator listed according to instructions, with lawful 

name preceding the alias.(36) In some instances, the pension certificate number is 

provided. At least two Missourians were listed on the veterans schedule and overlooked 

in the general population census.(37) 

A less noble side of some veterans is revealed, as well. Some individuals falsely 

claimed to be veterans, hoping to receive government pensions. "Deserter" is entered in 

the remarks column often enough, although it is often unclear by whom this information 

was provided. William Robertson of the Oklahoma Territory was found "sick on drink 

when visited." One North Carolina enumerator disgustedly reported on a case of pension 

fraud, noting: "Brown and Branvell were both deserters from the Confederate Army. 

Brown now draws a pension from 'Uncle Sam' under the plea that he has scurvy of the 

mouth."(38) 

At the completion of the 1890 enumeration, the special schedules were returned 

with a preliminary count of 1,099,668 Union survivors and 163,176 widows. A large 

number of schedules were found to be incomplete, and many veterans had been 

overlooked. The Census Bureau sent thousands of letters and published inquiries in 

hundreds of newspapers hoping to acquire missing data. As appropriate, corrections and 

additions were made to the schedules. The initial work of examining, verifying, and 

classifying the information was suspended in June 1891, awaiting congressional 

appropriation for publication of the veterans' volumes.(39) During that same period, 

anticipating the publication, the bureau began transcribing information from the 

schedules onto a printed card for each surviving veteran or widow, later to be arranged by 

state and organization. No fewer than 304,607 cards were completed before this work 

was also halted. These cards do not seem to be extant, nor does there appear to be a final 

record of their disposition. Some cards may have been placed in individual service 

files.(40) 

The veterans' publication seemed doomed. Adequate funding was not available, 

many considered other census work more pressing, and searches for information in the 

manuscript veterans schedules were cumbersome and costly. In 1893 Carroll Wright, 

then in charge of the census, argued that too much time had already passed to make any 

veterans' publication accurate; the general schedules provided an approximate number of 

Union veterans and widows. He recommended these special schedules be transferred to 

the Pension Office or the War Department, and in 1894 Congress authorized their transfer 

to the Commissioner of Pensions for use in the Pension Office and transferred them 

"shortly thereafter."(41) The schedules were arranged and stored in bundles, generally 

alphabetically by name of state or territory, and numbered sequentially. In 1930 legal 

custody of the schedules passed from the Pension Office to the newly formed Veterans 

Administration, where they remained until accessioned by the National Archives in 1943 

as part of Record Group 15.(42) Clearly these schedules were maintained apart from the 

population schedules and used for different purposes in a different location. Moreover, no 

reporting from the fires of 1896 or 1921 mention these schedules among the damaged 

series. It seems nearly impossible they were involved in the Commerce Building fire in 

1921. 

The extant schedules are available for part of Kentucky through Wyoming, 

Lincoln Post #3 in Washington, D.C., and selected U.S. vessels and navy yards. The 

schedules are generally arranged by state and county and thereunder generally by town or 

post office address. The bundle containing schedules for Oklahoma and Indian Territories 

are arranged by enumeration districts. Although veterans schedules from the states of 

Alabama through Kentucky (part) are not known to be extant, bundle 198 on roll 118, 

"Washington, DC, and Miscellaneous," also contains some schedules for California 

(Alcatraz), Connecticut (Fort Trumbull, Hartford County Hospital, and U.S. Naval 

Station), Delaware (Delaware State Hospital for the Insane), Florida (Fort Barrancas and 

St. Francis Barracks), Idaho (Boise Barracks and Fort Sherman), Illinois (Cook County 

and Henderson County), Indiana (Warrick County and White County), and Kansas 

(Barton County). All of the accessioned schedules have been microfilmed and are 

available as National Archives Microfilm Publication M123 (118 rolls).(43)  

There is no comprehensive index to the 1890 special enumeration, but indexes to 

some states or specific areas have been prepared by various publishing companies and 

private groups. These special enumerations are well worth examination. Although it may 

be time-consuming to wade through an unindexed county, the information rewards can be 

priceless and uncommon. Few series in the National Archives rival this one for anecdotal 

information and local color.  

Of course, there is no real substitute for the lost 1890 or any other comprehensive 

federal census. Records relating to elections, tax or criminal legislation, impending 

statehood, war, economic crisis, vital statistics reporting, and other local events may 

provide alternative information sources. There are some state and territorial censuses 

available for the years near 1890. For example, the federal government assisted the states 

and territories of Colorado, Florida, Nebraska, New Mexico, and the Dakotas in an 1885 

census. There is an 1890 territorial census for some areas in Oklahoma.(44) The 1890 

poll lists or "Great Registers" for selected counties in Arizona and California are extant 

and available at the respective state archives. The Arkansas Genealogical Society has 

sponsored a statewide program to reconstruct the missing 1890 federal census using tax 

and other local records. Ann Lainhart's State Census Records (Genealogical Publishing 

Co., Inc., 1992) includes state-by-state listings of census resources, including some 

census and other alternatives for the 1890 federal census.(45) Researchers are encouraged 

to contact state and local repositories to inquire about alternative resources and verify 

records arrangement, availability, and content.  

The loss of the 1890 schedules and absence of part of the special veterans 

enumeration are especially painful information losses for which there is no real balm. 

However, all of the federal censuses (pre-1920) might have been destroyed in that 1921 

fire, especially if it had consumed the entire Commerce Building. It is a wonder now, as 

it was to the secretary of commerce at the time of the fire, that such a large number of 

records were saved.(46) Most researchers in federal records are frustrated at some point 

by gaps in records, lack of indexes and description, poor quality images, or unknown 

records provenance. More than 150 years passed between the signing of the Declaration 

of Independence and the establishment of a U.S. National Archives, however, and the 

nation paid a high price for this delay. Critical records succumbed to war, fire, flood, 

theft, moves, agency reorganization, administrative error, improper filming, ignorance, 

apathy, and the ravages of time. It is really quite remarkable that so many valuable 

records are extant and available for research. The tragedy of the 1890 census remains a 

constant reminder of the necessity for a vigorous National Archives and unrelenting 

vigilance about the historical record.  

Notes 

1. Daniel P. O'Mahony, "Lost But Not Forgotten: The U.S. Census of 1890," Government 

Publications Review 18 (1991): 332; Margo J. Anderson, The American Census: A Social 

History (1988), p. 106. 

The Census Bureau was established as a permanent organization in 1902; before that 

date, the work of the bureau was carried out on an ad hoc basis pursuant to congressional 

authorization. In February 1903 the Census Bureau was transferred from the Department 

of the Interior to the Department of Commerce and Labor and in 1913 to the newly 

separated Commerce Department. See Kellee Green, "The Fourteenth Numbering of the 

People: The 1920 Federal Census," Prologue: Quarterly of the National Archives 23 

(Summer 1991): 131-132. 

2. O'Mahony, "Lost But Not Forgotten," pp. 333, 335; Anderson, The American Census, 

p. 102; W. Stull Holt, The Bureau of the Census: Its History, Activities, and Organization 

(1929; reprint, 1974), p. 30. 

Municipal governments could request copies of information (names, age, sex, birthplace, 

and color or race) of their residents from the superintendent of the census at a cost of 

twenty-five cents for each hundred names. See Sec. 23, An Act to Provide for Taking of 

the Eleventh and Subsequent Censuses, March 1, 1889, Records Relating to the 11th 

(1890) Census, 1889-1893, Records Relating to Decennial Censuses, Patents and 

Miscellaneous Division, Records of the Office of the Secretary of Interior, Record Group 

48, National Archives (hereinafter, records in the National Archives will be cited as RG 

___, NA); Carroll D. Wright and William C. Hunt, The History and Growth of the United 

States Census (1900), p. 73. 

3. There were four general schedules relating to the population, agriculture, 

manufactures, and mortality; eight supplemental schedules, for the defective, dependent, 

and delinquent classes; and a special schedule enumerating the survivors of the War of 

the Rebellion. Sec. 9, 19, An Act to Provide for Taking of the Eleventh and Subsequent 

Censuses, March 1, 1889, and Robert V. Porter to Eugene Hale, Feb. 21, 1890, Records 

Relating to the 11th (1890) Census, 1889 1893, Records Relating to Decennial Censuses, 

Patents and Miscellaneous Division, RG 48, NA; Richard Mayo Smith. "The Eleventh 

Census of the United States," Economic Journal 1 (March 1891): 45-46; Wright and 

Hunt, History and Growth, p. 70. 

4. Holt, The Bureau of the Census, p. 28; Sec. 17, An Act to Provide for Taking of the 

Eleventh and Subsequent Censuses, March 1, 1889, and Robert V. Porter to Eugene Hale, 

Feb. 21, 1890, Records Relating to the 11th (1890) Census, 1889-1893, Records Relating 

to Decennial Censuses, Patents and Miscellaneous Division, RG 48, NA. 

On the population schedule there were fourteen inquiries common to the schedules of 

1880 and 1890, while in 1890 there were ten additional points of information: 

1. Whether a solider, sailor, or marine during the Civil War (United States or 

Confederate), or widow of such person.  

2. Mother of how many children, and number of these children living (for all 

married, widowed, and divorced women).  

3. Number of years in the United States (for all foreign-born adult males).  

4. Whether naturalized (for all foreign-born adult males).  

5. Whether naturalization papers have been taken out (for all foreign-born adult 

males).  

6. Ability to speak English (for all persons ten years old and upward).  

7. Whether home lived in was hired, or owned by the head or by a member of the 

family.  

8. If owned by head or member of family, whether the home was free from 

mortgage incumbrance.  

9. If the head of the family was a farmer, whether the farm which he cultivated was 

hired, or owned by him or by a member of his family.  

10. If owned by head or member of family, whether the farm was free from mortgage 

incumbrance.  

In 1890 a further subdivision was required by the law concerning negroes of mixed blood 

as to the number of mulattoes, quadroons, and octoroons. See Robert Porter to Hon. J. H. 

Gallinger, ordered to be printed Jan. 5, 1898, 55th Cong., 2d sess., Document 46. 

5. Introduction to File Microcopies of Records in the National Archives: No. 123, 

Eleventh Census of the United States, 1890, Schedules Enumerating Union Veterans and 

Widows of Union Veterans of the Civil War (1948), p. ii; Wright, History and Growth, p. 

76; Smith, "The Eleventh Census," p. 49; Anderson, The American Census, pp. 106, 108; 

Report of the Operations of the Census Office for the Fiscal Year ended June 30, 1892, 

Records Relating to the 11th (1890) Census, Records Relating to Decennial Censuses, 

Patents and Miscellaneous Division, RG 48, NA; U.S. v. Stevens, et al., Criminal Case 

105, U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota Fourth Division (Minneapolis), 

Records of District Courts of the United States, RG 21, National Archives-Central Plains 

Region. 

6. Anderson, The American Census, p. 109; Wright and Hunt, History and Growth, p. 78. 

In his annual report for 1937, the Archivist of the United States, reporting the 

accessioning of farm schedules from other census years, noted: "The agricultural 

schedules for 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 have been distributed to societies and libraries 

throughout the country; those for 1890 have disappeared." See Third Annual Report of 

the Archivist of the United States for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1937 (1938), pp. 

141-142. 

7. C. S. Sloane to Edward McCauley, Nov. 24, 1903, folder "Census of 1890," 

Alphabetical Subject File, Records of the Bureau of the Census, RG 29, NA. 

Perhaps, retrospectively, it is amazing that a fire did not occur sooner, as a 1916 report 

notes that the area in the vault nearest the boiler room could not be kept below 90 degrees 

while the heating plant was in operation, making it too hot for a clerk to work in the vault 

for more than a few minutes and causing the records to rapidly deteriorate. Report of the 

Secretary of Commerce 1916, General Correspondence 68636/3, Office of the Secretary, 

General Records of the Department of Commerce, RG 40, NA. 

8. "Report Concerning the Fire in the Basement of the Department of Commerce 

Building on the Afternoon of January 10, 1921," Jan. 20, 1921, and Testimony of James 

E. Foster, Fireman, Testimony of John Parsons, Chief Engineer and Electrician, Office of 

the Solicitor's Inquiry Concerning Origin of the Fire in the Department of Commerce 

Building on January 10, 1921, made January 11, 1921, General Correspondence 68636/3; 

Office of the Secretary, RG 40, NA; Washington Star, Jan. 11, 1921; Washington Post, 

Jan. 11, 1921. 

9. The January 20 report of Libbey and the Washington Post state 5:30 as the time the fire 

was discovered. "Report Concerning the Fire in the Basement of the Department of 

Commerce Building on the Afternoon of January 10, 1921," Jan. 20, 1921, and Report, E. 

M. Libbey to the Secretary of Commerce, Jan. 20, 1921, General Correspondence 

68636/3, Office of the Secretary, RG 40, NA; Washington Post, Jan. 11, 1921; 

Washington Herald, Jan. 11, 1921. 

10. Washington Post, Jan. 11, 1921; Washington Star, Jan. 11, 1921; Testimony of 

William M. Lytle, Chief Clerk, Bureau of Navigation, Testimony of Chancellor, 

Watchman, Office of the Solicitor's Inquiry Concerning Origin of the Fire in the 

Department of Commerce Building on January 10, 1921, made January 11, 1921, and 

Report, E. M. Libbey to the Secretary of Commerce, Jan. 20, 1921, General 

Correspondence 68636/3, Office of the Secretary, RG 40, NA. 

11. Washington Post, Jan. 11, 1921; Washington Star, Jan. 11, 1921; Washington Herald, 

Jan. 11, 1921; J. W. Alexander, Secretary of Commerce, to Harry Wardman, Jan. 22, 

1921, General Correspondence 68636/3, Office of the Secretary, RG 40, NA; New York 

Times, Jan. 11, 1921, quoted in O'Mahony, "Lost But Not Forgotten," p. 335. 

Chief Engineer Parsons claimed the water was 14-16 inches deep when he inspected it on 

January 11. See Testimony of John Parsons, Chief Engineer and Electrician, Office of the 

Solicitor's Inquiry Concerning the Origin of the Fire in the Department of Commerce 

Building on January 10, 1921, made January 11, 1921, General Correspondence 68636/3, 

Office of the Secretary, RG 40, NA. 

12. Washington Herald, Jan. 11, 1921; Sam L. Rogers to the Secretary of Commerce, 

Jan. 11, 1921, and Testimony of John Parsons, Chief Engineer and Electrician, Office of 

the Solicitor's Inquiry Concerning the Origin of the Fire in the Department of Commerce 

Building on January 10, 1921, General Correspondence 68636/3, Office of the Secretary, 

RG 40, NA. 

Other later estimates place the destruction at 15-25%. See Evangeline Thurber, "The 

1890 Census Records of the Veterans of the Union Army," NGS Quarterly 34 (March 

1946): 8. G. M. Brumbaugh, editor of the NGS Quarterly, claimed in April 1921 that the 

fire destroyed records of about 6,000 enumeration districts and badly charred about 2,000 

other districts out of some 41,000 districts, although he does not provide the source of his 

data. See G. M. Brumbaugh, M.D., to Senator Miles Poindexter, Apr. 8, 1921, and G. M. 

Brumbaugh, to Herbert Putnam, Librarian of Congress, Apr. 8, 1921, folder "Census of 

1890," Alphabetical Subject File, Records of the Bureau of the Census, RG 29, NA. 

13. Washington Post, Jan. 11, 1921; Washington Star, Jan. 11, 1921; New York 

American, Jan. 11, 1921. 

14. Rogers reported the following "number of bound volumes and of portfolios of census 

schedules which were damaged by water in the vault in the basement of the Commerce 

Building during the fire of January 10": census volumes from the 1830 census (6 states, 

53 volumes), 1840 census (7 states, 65 volumes), 1880 census (20 states, 211 volumes), 

1900 census (17 states and the Indian Territory, 633 volumes), and 1910 census (48 states 

and the District of Columbia, 7,957 volumes). He noted that it would be impossible to tell 

the extent of the damage until the schedules were taken out of the vault, dried, and 

examined. Sam L. Rogers to the Secretary of Commerce, Jan. 11, 1921, General 

Correspondence 68636/3, Office of the Secretary, RG 40, NA; Washington Herald, Jan. 

11, 1921. 

15. J. W. Alexander to Hon. Wesley L. Jones, Feb. 2, 1921, "Report Concerning the Fire 

in the Basement of the Department of Commerce Building on the Afternoon of January 

10, 1921," Jan. 20, 1921, and Testimony of John Parsons, Chief Engineer and Electrician, 

Office of the Solicitor's Inquiry Concerning Origin of the Fire in the Department of 

Commerce Building on January 10, 1921, made January 11, 1921, General 

Correspondence 68636/3, Office of the Secretary, RG 40, NA; Washington Star, Jan. 13, 

14, 1921. 

Mrs. J. C. Drysdale noted that there had been fires in the three most critical sources of her 

heirship evidence: in the Census Bureau, in the Capitol at Virginia, and at the Old City 

Hall in Columbus, OH. "Another fact that makes these three fires appear as the work of 

an incendiary is the fact that they were almost simultaneous, just enough time between 

for one man to travel from Va. to Washington, and from there to Columbus, and then to 

Cleveland to get his reward." Mrs. J. C. Drysdale to T. G. Fitzgerald, Mar. 31, 1921, 

General Correspondence 68636/3, Office of the Secretary, RG 40, NA. 

16. Washington Star, Jan. 11, 14, 1921; Washington Post, Jan. 11, 1921; Washington 

Herald, Jan. 11, 1921; Congressional Record, 66th Cong., 3d sess., 1921, Vol. 60, No. 

29, p. 1320; "Report Concerning the Fire in the Basement of the Department of 

Commerce Building on the Afternoon of January 10, 1921," Jan. 20, 1921, Report, E. M. 

Libbey to the Secretary of Commerce, Jan. 20, 1921, and Testimony of Edward M. 

Chancellor, Watchman, Office of the Solicitor's Inquiry Concerning Origin of the Fire in 

the Department of Commerce Building on January 10, 1921, made January 11, 1921, 

General Correspondence 68636/3, Office of the Secretary, RG 40, NA. 

17. "Report Concerning the Fire in the Basement of the Department of Commerce 

Building on the Afternoon of January 10, 1921," Jan. 20, 1921, Testimony of John 

Parsons, Chief Engineer and Electrician, Testimony of Walter Pumphrey, Chief 

Watchman, Testimony of W. S. Erwin, Clerk in the Supply Division, Office of the 

Solicitor's Inquiry Concerning Origin of the Fire in the Department of Commerce 

Building on January 10, 1921, made January 11, 1921, E. M. Libbey to the Secretary of 

Commerce, Jan. 20, 1921; General Correspondence 68636/3, Office of the Secretary, RG 

40, NA; Washington Star, Jan. 13, 1921. 

18. Report, E. M. Libbey to the Secretary of Commerce, Jan. 20, 1921, E. M. Libbey to 

Charles E. Stewart, Chief Clerk, Department of Justice, Apr. 16, 1921, General 

Correspondence 68636/3, Office of the Secretary, RG 40, NA. 

19. Washington Star, Jan. 24, 1921. 

20. William C. Redfield, to J. W. Alexander, Jan. 12, 1921, and Washington Star, Jan. 11, 

1921, General Correspondence 68636/3, Office of the Secretary, RG 40, NA; J. Franklin 

Jameson to Hoover, May 11, 1921, Hoover to Jameson, May 14, 1921, Jameson to 

Hoover, May 21, 1921, Hoover-Jameson Correspondence, Herbert Hoover Library, West 

Branch, IA. 

21. Washington Star, Jan. 13, 16, 17, 1921; Washington Post, Jan. 11, 1921; General 

Correspondence 68636/3, Office of the Secretary, RG 40, NA. 

22. Washington Star, Jan. 24, 29, 1921; S. W. Stratton [?], Bureau of Standards, to 

Secretary of Commerce, Jan. 26, 1921, General Correspondence 68636/3, Office of the 

Secretary, RG 40, NA; various correspondence, G. M. Brumbaugh, M.D., editor, NGS 

Quarterly, to Senator Miles Poindexter, Apr. 8, 1921, National Genealogical Society 

Resolutions to Save the Population Census of 1890, Washington, DC, Apr. 2, 1921, 

Resolution, Apr. 22, 1921, signed by Emma L. Strider, Register General of the Daughters 

of the American Revolution, et al., folder "Census of 1890," box 9, Alphabetical Subject 

File, entry 160, RG 29, NA. 

23. Herbert Hoover told inquirers that there must be some "mis-impression about this 

matter as I have no notion of destroying any records." He also noted that the records were 

in constant jeopardy, placed as they were in a temporary war building. Herbert Hoover to 

Burton L. French, May 6, 1921, and sheet, "Census of 1890," n.d., folder "Census of 

1890," Alphabetical Subject File, entry 160, RG 29, NA. 

24. W. M. Steuart to the Secretary of Commerce, May 3, 1921, folder "Census of 1890," 

box 9, Alphabetical Subject File, entry 160, RG 29, NA; Annual Report of the Director of 

the Census to the Secretary of Commerce for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1922 

(1922), p. 26. 

25. Disposition of Useless Papers in the Department of Commerce, 2d sess., No. 2080; 

Thurber, "The 1890 Census," p. 8; Note, n.d., signed E.L.Y, folder "Census of 1890," box 

9, Alphabetical Subject File, entry 160, RG 29, NA. 

E.L.Y. is presumably Evelyn L. Yeomans, on the staff of the Geography Division from 

1899 to 1941, who "apparently maintained the Division files and answered requests for 

information from and about the old census schedules." See Katherine H. Davidson and 

Charlotte B. Ashby, comps., Records of the Bureau of Census: National Archives 

Preliminary Inventory 161 (1964), p. 53. 

26. A few schedules from Illinois are reported accessioned in the Eighth Annual Report 

of the Archivist of the United States for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1942 (1943), p. 

71. See also Final Report on Transfer, Accession No. 947 Recommendation on Transfer, 

by Robert Claus, Acting Associate Archivist, Job 42-154, Jan. 22, 1942, Accession 947 

Dossier, NA. 

27. The accession dossier notes some 74,344 original copies of the "Eleventh Census of 

the United States, Special Schedules," in the accession. This number was based on the 

preliminary estimate of schedules given by the Veterans Administration. 

Recommendation on Transfer, Dorothy Hill, Mar. 24, 1943, Final Report on Transfer, 

Dorothy Hill, June 17, 1943, and Frank T. Hines, Administrator, Veterans 

Administration, to Solon J. Buck, Archivist of the United States, Sept. 14, 1942, Job 43- 

74, Accession 1369 Dossier, NA. 

28. By 1890, more than 250,000 claims had been rejected or were awaiting adjudication 

in the Pension Office because witnesses to support the claims could not be located. See 

Thurber, "The 1890 Census," p. 7; Recommendation on Transfer, Dorothy Hill, Mar. 24, 

1943, Job 43-74, Accession 1369 Dossier, NA; Carroll D. Wright to the Secretary of the 

Interior, Nov. 18, 1893, Records Relating to the 11th (1890) Census, 1889 1893, Records 

Relating to Decennial Censuses, Patents and Miscellaneous Division, RG 48, NA. 

29. Porter to Hale, Dec. 12, 1889, Records Relating to the 11th (1890) Census, 1889- 

1893, Records Relating to Decennial Censuses, Patents and Miscellaneous Division, RG 

48, NA; introduction to Special Schedules of the Eleventh Census (1890) Enumerating 

Union Veterans and Widows of Union Veterans of the Civil War (National Archives 

Microfilm Publication M123), p. ii. 

30. Wright and Hunt, History and Growth, p. 187. 

31. 12 Stat. L. 566, as quoted in Gustavus A. Weber and Laurence F. Schmeckebier, The 

Veterans Administration: Its History, Activities, and Organization (1934), p. 40. 

32. Enumerators received five cents (in per capita payment areas) for each record on the 

special schedule for surviving veterans, possibly encouraging additional or incorrect 

entries. Others claim the incorrect entries resulted from improper or imprecise phrasing 

of the question regarding veterans' service. Wright and Hunt, History and Growth, p. 72. 

33. Susan Arnold, Pennsylvania, Special Schedules of the Eleventh Census, M123, roll 

91. 

34. Eliza Smith, Pennsylvania, roll 91; Margaret Montgomery, Pennsylvania, roll 91; 

Widow, Wyoming, roll 117; and Pate Halberts, Ohio, roll 73, all on Special Schedules of 

the Eleventh Census, M123. 

35. Allan T. Hobbs, Utah Territory, Special Schedules of the Eleventh Census, M123, roll 

103. 

36. William Martin, North Carolina, roll 58; James Stabus, Ohio, roll 73; Bernard Todd, 

Pennsylvania, Jackson Mitchell, Pennsylvania, roll 81; and Samuel Polite, Marcus 

Moultair, and August Gadson, roll 93, all on Special Schedules of the Eleventh Census, 

M123. Wright and Hunt, History and Growth, pp. 198-199. 

37. Dennis Arnold, Maryland, roll 10, and William Luilbett, Jacob Lasa, Missouri, roll 

32, all on Special Schedules of the Eleventh Census, M123. 

38. William Robertson, Oklahoma Territory, Roll 76, M123; Brown, North Carolina, 

Special Schedules of the Eleventh Census, M123, roll 57. 

39. Thurber, "The 1890 Census," pp. 7-8; Letter, Acting Superintendent of Census to the 

Secretary of the Interior, Sept. 12, 1893, and Carroll D. Wright to Secretary of the 

Interior, Nov. 18, 1893, Records Relating to the 11th (1890) Census, 1889-1893, Records 

Relating to Decennial Censuses, Patents and Miscellaneous Division, RG 48, NA; 

introduction to Special Schedules of the Eleventh Census, M123, pp. ii-iii; Holt, The 

Bureau of the Census, p. 30; typewritten note, E.L.Y, Aug. 29, 1934, folder "Census of 

1890," Alphabetical Subject File, RG 29, NA; Routing Slip, Dorothy J. Hill, 4-26-43, Job 

43-74, Accession 1369 Dossier, NA. 

40. Carroll D. Wright to the Secretary of the Interior, Nov. 18, 1893, Records Relating to 

the 11th (1890) Census, 1889-1893, Records Relating to Decennial Censuses, Patents and 

Miscellaneous Division, RG 48, NA; Thurber, "The 1890 Census," p. 9; Wright and 

Hunt, History and Growth, p. 75. 

In the printed reports of the commissioner of pensions for the fiscal years 1895 and 1896, 

it was stated that this division had made some 437,538 additions to the cards in the 

"service files." See Job 43-74, Accession 1369 Dossier, NA. 

41. Acting Superintendent of Census to Secretary of Interior, Sept. 20, 1893, Acting 

Superintendent of Census to the Secretary of the Interior, Sep. 12, 1893, and Carroll D. 

Wright to the Secretary of the Interior, Nov. 18, 1893, Records Relating to the 11th 

(1890) Census, 1889-1893, Records Relating to Decennial Censuses, Patents and 

Miscellaneous Division, RG 48, NA; Thurber, "The 1890 Census," p. 8; Holt, The 

Bureau of the Census, p. 30; typewritten note, E.L.Y, Aug. 29, 1934, folder "Census of 

1890," Alphabetical Subject File, RG 29, NA; introduction to Special Schedules of the 

Eleventh Census, M123, p. iii; routing slip, Dorothy J. Hill, 4-26-43, Job 43-74, 

Accession 1369 Dossier, NA. 

42. Introduction to Special Schedules of the Eleventh Census, M123, p. iii; Holt, Bureau 

of the Census, p. 30; typewritten note, E.L.Y., Aug. 29, 1934, folder "Census of 1890," 

Alphabetical Subject File, RG 29, NA; Recommendation on Transfer, Dorothy Hill, Mar. 

24, 1943, routing slip, Apr. 23, 1943, Final Report on Transfer, June 17, 1943, and 

interoffice communication, Arthur H. Leavitt, May 20, 1943, Job 43-74, Accession 1369 

Dossier, NA; Ninth Annual Report of the Archivist for the Fiscal Year Ending June 1943 

(1944), p. 86; Wright and Hunt, History and Growth, p. 79. 

The records apparently came to the National Archives from the Dependents Claims 

Service at the Veterans Administration. Final Report on Transfer, June 17, 1943; routing 

slip, Apr. 26, 1943, Job 43-74, Dossier, Accession 1369, NA. 

43. Introduction to Special Schedules of the Eleventh Census, M123, p. iii. 

44. Guide to Genealogical Research in the National Archives (1985), pp. 25-35. 

45. Microfilmed copies are available via the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and 

the California section of the State Library in Sacramento. Wendy L. Elliott, "'Great 

Register Project' Aims to Replace Missing 1890 Census," Federation of Genealogical 

Societies Forum 4 (Summer 1992): 3 4; Alice Eichholz, ed., Redbook: American State, 

County, and Town Sources (1989), p. 32; Ann S. Lainhart, State Census Records (1992).  

46. J. W. Alexander to William C. Redfield, Jan. 17, 1921, General Correspondence 

68636/3, Office of the Secretary, RG 40, NA.