Federal Population Schedules that exist for Missouri are 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890 (fragment, see below), 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. The censuses for the years 1810 and 1820 are lost for all districts. All the remaining population censuses (except for 1890) have survived. The Missouri State Archives knows of no state copies of the federal population schedules that survived the capitol building fire of 1911. It does hold the original federal supplement to the 1880 population census which enumerated the defective, delinquent, and dependent classes. Called Supplemental Schedules Numbers 1–7, this part of the census enumerated those labeled “Insane, Idiots, Deaf-mutes and Blind, Homeless Children, Prisoners, Paupers and Indigents.” Institutions were inventoried as well as private households. Since the county or state listed was the one of legal residence, the listing for the inhabitants of various institutions will give their residence before moving into the institution.

There are Industry and Agriculture Schedules availible for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. Slave Schedules exist for 1850 & 1860. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. Union Veterans Schedules were conducted in 1890 all except Daviess and Dekalb counties; some inadvertently included Confederate veterans. The Missouri Historical Society in St. Louis has the original agriculture, industry, slave, and mortality schedules. The State Historical Society of Missouri in Columbia has microfilmed copies of some, but not all have been filmed.

  Territorial and State Schedules: Censuses were taken during the territorial period in 1814, 1817, and 1819, but only statistical summaries remain. There are listings of heads of families of New Madrid for 1797 and 1803. Heads of families were enumerated for St. Charles in 1817 and 1819 only. Some of the early Spanish censuses of Upper Louisiana have been retrieved from the archives in Seville, Spain, and were published in Louis Houck's The Spanish Regime in Missouri, 2 vols. (Chicago, Ill.: R.R. Donnelley and Sons, 1909). This publication is an excellent documentary history of the time period between 1770 and 1804.

Missouri Census Records - The need for statistical information about the population by the government of Missouri Territory resulted in the taking of a state census in the years 1814 and 1817. These census records listed only free white males. The next census was taken in 1821, the year statehood was achieved. Beginning in 1824 and following at four year intervals through 1876, other state censuses were taken.

The Census Act of 1824 and thereafter required that the sheriffs or assessors submit abstracts of their returns to the Secretary of State and that they file the original returns with the Clerks of the County Courts. Only a very few of the state census enumerations have survived. Below is a list of the surviving censuses.

• 1840 - New Madrid, Newton, Pike, Randolph, Ray, Rives(later Henry), Shelby, Stoddard, and Warren
• 1844 - Callaway, Greene
• 1856 - Audrain
• 1868 - Cape Girardeau
• 1876 - Atchison, Benton, Butler, Callaway, Cape Girardeau, Christian, Daviess, Franklin, Gasconade, Greene, Holt, Howard, McDonald, Madison, Moniteau, Montogomery, Osage, Perry, Phelps, Reynolds, Ripley, St. Francois, Stone, Texas, Webster, and Worth

Although Missouri conducted a number of state censuses, most of the individual schedules are lost; only the statistical abstracts remain. The state did compile a census corresponding to the 1840 U.S. census. Nine of those enumerations survived the capitol building fire of 1911. They are the counties of New Madrid, Newton, Pike, Randolph, Ray, Shelby, Stoddard, Warren, and Rives (now Henry). The originals are located in the Missouri State Archives. A few listings remain for the state censuses of 1844, 1852, 1856, and 1868. Most of these are statistical abstracts only. The state census of 1876 exists for Benton, Butler, Callaway, Cape Girardeau, Christian, Franklin, Greene, Holt, Howard, Iron, McDonald, Montgomery, Osage, Phelps, Reynolds, St. Francois and Texas counties. The originals of these censuses remain in the county, but microfilmed copies have been made by the Missouri State Archives and can be searched there. Schulyer County took a special census in 1880. These censuses are not individual enumerations, but by age group similar to the federal population schedules before 1850. They include the number of deaf, dumb, blind, insane, the number of livestock, and some agricultural items.

Tips for General Census Records

Excerpts From the Book "Family History Made Easy"

   There are numerous ways to determine the location in which to concentrate research for an ancestor. One of the most popular and productive is the census.
Alice Eichholz, Ph.D., In Ancestry’s Red Book: American State,County and Town Sources

    Since 1790, the U.S. government has taken a nationwide population count every ten years. Unique in scope and often surprisingly detailed, the census population schedules created from 1790 to 1920 are among the most used of records created by the federal government. Over the course of two centuries the United States has changed significantly, and so has the census. From the six basic questions asked in the 1790 census, the scope and categories of information have changed and expanded dramatically.

   Early censuses were essentially basic counts of inhabitants; but as the nation grew, so did the need for statistics that would reflect the characteristics of the people. In 1850, the focus of the census was radically broadened. Going far beyond the vague questions previously asked of heads of households, the 1850 census enumerators were instructed to ask the age, sex, color, occupation, birthplace, and other questions regarding every individual in every household. Succeeding enumerations solicited more information; by 1920, census enumerators asked twenty-nine questions of every head of household and almost as many questions of everyone else in the residence. (Only a very small segment of the 1890 census remains; a fire in the Commerce Department destroyed the vast majority of the original records for that year. Because of privacy considerations, census records less than seventy-two years old are not available to the general public; thus, the 1920 census is the most recent available to the public.)

   Few, if any, records reveal as many details about individuals and families as do the U.S. federal censuses. The population schedules are successive “snapshots” of Americans that depict where and how they were living at particular periods in the past. Once home sources and library sources have been exhausted, the census is often the best starting point for further genealogical research. Statewide indexes (see “Indexes,” below) are available for almost every census; they are logical tools for locating individuals whose precise place of residence is unknown. While some inaccuracies are to be expected in census records, they still provide some of the most fascinating and useful pieces of personal history to be found in any source. If nothing else, census records are important sources for placing individuals in specific places at specific times. Additionally, information found in the census will often point to other sources critical to complete research, such as court, land, military, immigration, naturalization, and vital records.

   The importance of census records does not diminish over time in any research project. It is always wise to return to these records as discoveries are made in other sources because, as you discover new evidence about individuals, some information that seemed unrelated or unimportant in a first look at the census may take on new importance.

   When you can’t find family, vital, or religious records, census records may be the only means of documenting the events of a person’s life. Vital registration—the official recording of births, deaths, and marriages—did not begin until around 1920 in many areas of the United States, and fires, floods and other disasters since have destroyed some official government records. When other documentation is missing, census records are frequently used by individuals who must prove their age or citizenship status (or that of their parents) for Social Security benefits, insurance, passports, and other important reasons.

How to Find Census Records
   All available federal census schedules (those made from 1790 to 1920) have been microfilmed and are available at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.; at the National Archives’ regional archives; at the Family History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS church) in Salt Lake City and LDS family history centers throughout North America (see chapter 8, “The Family History Library and Its Centers”); at many large libraries; in genealogical society libraries; and through companies that lend microfilmed records. Some state and local agencies have census schedules for the state or area they serve. Generally, microfilm copies may be borrowed through interlibrary loan.

Starting With the Census
   It is usually best to begin a census search in the most recently available census records (1920) and to work from what is already known about a family. With any luck, birthplaces and other clues found in these more recent records will point to locations of earlier residence.

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