Last month, if you were searching the 1810 U.S. census, you might have seen this:
Now, you will see this:
In November, we sent a survey to our members, asking what record collections and improvements you would most like to see. Your number one request was for more improved U.S. federal census images and indexes—like those added for the 1900 census last year.
As a result, we made it our top priority for 2009 to continue improving U.S. Federal Censuses. We released enhanced images for the 1880 U.S. census in March, what is left of the 1890 census in May (most of the original census was destroyed in a fire), and this month we’ve released improved images for the 1810 U.S. census.
We’ve also dedicated more memory to the census collection on our servers, so we can store them at a higher resolution. This means the images are even clearer, and you can zoom in for a closer look than ever before.
You’ll notice all of the images have a cleaner, crisper look. And occasionally you’ll find you can read names that were illegible before—either because they were too light, too dark, too blurry, covered in tape, or even in some cases missing, etc.
So if you found a record before that you couldn’t quite decipher (“Is that really my ancestor’s name? What is his occupation? I can’t quite make it out. . . .”) you’ll want to look again. The images will be updated on your family trees as well, so if you saved the record there, you can just revisit it on your tree.
Improved Indexes
As part of our census improvement project, we’ll also be releasing improved indexes to seven of our U.S. federal censuses—the 1850, 1860, 1870, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 censuses (the 1900 improvements are already live).
We are adding new, “alternate” names in many places where it is difficult to decipher a name. So, if it is unclear whether a name is “Homer” or “Hamen” (see example below), you’ll be able to find the record by searching either name because we’ll have both versions available in the index. One of the names will show up as the “standard” name and the other as an alternate.
On this 1900 U.S. census record, it’s a little difficult to tell if this name is “Rebecca Hamen” or “Rebecca Homer.” Now, you can find the record when you search for either name.
In your search results, alternate names show up below the original transcription, with a small yellow triangle next to them.
For the 1900 U.S. census, we added 17.5 million alternate surnames, covering about 23% of the total names in the collection. We anticipate adding similar numbers of alternate names for the other six censuses for which we will be merging indexes.
Schedule for Improved Censuses
New images for the 1810, 1880, 1890 (those few fragments available), and 1900 censuses are already on the site (the updated 1810 census is new this month). An updated index to the 1900 census is also already live.
Improved images for the 1820 census are scheduled to come out later this month, with the improved 1830 images following in August and the 1840 images in September. Improved images for the 1790 and 1800 censuses are scheduled to be released in the fall, and improved images and indexes for the 1850, 1860, and 1870 censuses are scheduled for the fall and winter.
Improvements for the 1910, 1920, and 1930 censuses will follow.
We’ll let you know as the updated images and indexes become available so you can search again for any ancestors you haven’t been able to find before.
Image from the former 1810 U.S. census collection.
Image from the new, improved 1810 U.S. census collection.
Image from the former 1810 U.S. census collection.
Image from the new, enhanced 1810 U.S. census collection.
Image from the former 1810 U.S. census. Some of the names are obscured by a piece of tape that was on the original record.
Image from the new, enhanced 1810 U.S. census collection. The names beneath the tape are now visible.
Note: In order to bring you the best images and indexes possible, we partnered with FamilySearch.
