The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 51, July 1947 - April, 1948 Page: 295
406 p. : ill., ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
History from the Census Returns
The Census of 1850 embodies a radical advance in the scope
and technique of census-taking. The inquiries are divided into
six schedules, each schedule printed on a sheet measuring 13 by
171/2' inches. All six schedules are herewith illustrated in minia-
ture. Figure 1 shows Schedule 1, Free Inhabitants, with two
families enumerated.6 Figure 2 shows Schedule 4, Agriculture,
with four sample entries.7 Figure 3 shows the heads of columns
for Schedule 2, Slave Inhabitants, for Schedule 3, Mortality, and
for Schedule 5, Industry. Figure 4 shows the inquiries making
up Schedule 6, Social Statistics. Schedules 1 to 5 required sep-
arate individual enumeration of each person or producer by
visitation of all dwellings, farms, and establishments. For Sched-
ule 6 the enumerator assembled as he saw fit the "Social Statis-
tics" of his unit, usually a county.
The schedules employed in 186o and in 1870 closely resemble
those designed in 1850o. Schedule 1, Free Inhabitants, 1860, calls
for occupation of females as well as of males, and for value of
personal estate as well as of real estate. Schedule 2, Slave Inhab-
itants, has an added column for number of slave houses. On
Schedule 4, Agriculture, beeswax is divorced from honey. Other-
wise the 186o schedules are identical with the 185o schedules.
Before 1870 the Civil War and the Thirteenth Amendment can-
celled Schedule 2, Slave Inhabitants; hence in 1870o all persons
-with the perennial exception of "Indians not taxed"-are enu-
merated on Schedule 1, Inhabitants. The more important changes
in the schedule concern illiteracy, nativity of parents, and "con-
stitutional relations." Minimum age for classification as illiterate,
formerly twenty years, becomes ten years, and the abilities to read
and to write fall under separate heads. Two new columns ask in
respect of each person whether either parent is of foreign birth.
Two concluding columns aim to find out who are adult male
citizens, and to which of them the "right to vote is denied or
abridged on other grounds than rebellion or other crime." Sched-
ule 3, Agriculture, divides unimproved land into woodland and
6The first family, from Cherokee County, is fairly typical of East Texas farm
families. The second family, from Henderson County, is something of an oddity.
7Dannell was a planter in Bowie County; Jennings, a general farmer in Grayson;
Donahoe, a piney woods stock raiser in Polk; and McMurry, a newly-arrived small
farmer in Smith.29g5
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 51, July 1947 - April, 1948, periodical, 1948; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101119/m1/389/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.