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Questions Asked on the 1910 Census

US 1910 Census Download

 

  • LOCATION
    • IN CITIES
      • Blank Column # Street, avenue, road, etc
      • Blank Column # House Number or farm
      • Column 1: Dwelling Number
      • Column 2: Number of family in order of visitation
  • NAME
    • of each person whose place of abode on April 15, 1910, was in this family.
    • Enter surname first, then the given name and middle initial, if any.
    • Include ever person living on April 15, 1910.
    • Omit children born since April 15, 1910.
      • Column 3: NAME.
  • RELATION
    •   
      • Column 4: Relationship of this person to the head of the family
  • PERSONAL DESCRIPTION
    •   
      • Column 5: Sex.
      • Column 6: Color or race.
      • Column 7: Age at last birthday
      • Column 8: Whether single, married, widowed, or divorced
      • Column 9: Number of years of present marriage
    • MOTHER OF HOW MANY CHILDREN
      • Column 10: Number born
      • Column 11: Number now living
  • NATIVITY
    • Place of birth of each person and parents of each person enumerated
    • If born in United States, give state or territory
    • If foreign birth, give the country
      • Column 12: Place of birth of this person
      • Column 13: Place of birth of Father of this person
      • Column 14: Place of birth of Mother of this person
  • CITIZENSHIP
    •   
      • Column 15: Year of immigration to the U.S.
      • Column 16: Whether naturalized or Alien
      • Column 17: Whether able to speak English; or, if not, give language spoken
  • OCCUPATION
    •     
      • Column 18: Trace or profession of, or particular kind of work done by this person
      • Column 19: General nature of industry, business, or establishment in which this person works
      • Column 20: Whether an employer, employee, or working on own account
    • IF AN EMPLOYEE
      • Column 21: Whether out or work on April 15, 1910
      • Column 22: Number of weeks out of work during 1909
  • EDUCATION
    •   
      • Column 23: Whether able to read
      • Column 24: Whether able to write
      • Column 25: Attended school any time since Sept 1, 1909
  • OWNERSHIP OF HOME
    •   
      • Column 26: Owned or Rented
      • Column 27: Owned free or mortgaged
      • Column 28: Farm or house
      • Column 29: Number of farm schedule
      • Column 30: Whether a survivor of the Union or Confederate Army or Navy
      • Column 31: Whether blind (both eyes)
      • Column 32: Whether deaf and dumb

Census Tip: The 1910 census questions get even more extensive and we learn more and more about our ancestors.

Soundex: The 1910 census was "soundexed". The soundexing system uses a numbering system for letters allowing a name to be indexed by the way it sounds, rather than the way it is spelled. The 1910 census was indexed by Soundex / Miracode indexing, however not all states were indexed. before the government halted this process due to the need for employees to work in the war efforts. Unfortunately for those of us pursuing our family history, the indexing was never resumed.

States which did get soundexed for 1910 are: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. These indexes have been recorded on microfilm which is housed at NARA, the LDS Library in Salt Lake City and various libraries.

Veterans of the Civil War were listed as survivors on the 1910 census. This is a nice little tidbit of information and can help you find your Civil War ancestors and perhaps locate their military records and or pension files. These military documents can lead to a plethora of information about your ancestors.

The 1910 Census features separate Indian population schedules. These Indian schedules records the Indian Tribe or Band the person was a member of.

 

 

 

1910

The 1910 census questionnaire was similar in design to that used in 1900. The most notable change was the late addition, at the behest of Congress, of a question concerning a person's "mother tongue." It was so late, in fact, that questionnaires for the census had already been printed. Information on "mother tongues" was to be added into "nativity" columns 12, 13, and 14. The following information, listed by column number, was gathered from each resident:

General Population Schedule

  1. Number of dwelling house in order of enumeration
  2. Number of family in order of enumeration
  3. Name
  4. Relationship to head of the family
  5. Sex
  6. Color or Race

    Enumerators were to enter "W" for White, "B" for Black, "Mu" for mulatto, "Ch" for Chinese, "Jp" for Japanese, "In" for American Indian, or "Ot" for other races.
  7. Age
  8. Is the person single, married, widowed, or divorced?

    Enumerators were to enter "S" for single, "Wd" for widowed, "D" for divorced, "M1" for married persons in their first marriage, and "M2" for those married persons in their second or subsequent marriage.
  9. Number of years of present marriage
  10. How many children is the person the mother of?
  11. Of the children a person has mothered, how many are still alive?
  12. Place of birth of the person
  13. Place of birth of the person's father
  14. Place of birth of the person's mother
  15. Year of immigration to the United States
  16. Is the person naturalized or an alien?
  17. Can the person speak English? If not, what language does the person speak?
  18. The person's trade, profession, or occupation
  19. General nature of the industry, business, or establishment in which this person works
  20. Is the person an employer, employee, or working on his own account?
  21. If the person is an employee, was he out of work on April 15, 1910?
  22. If the person is an employee, what is the number of weeks he was out of work in 1909?
  23. Can the person read?
  24. Can the person write?
  25. Has the person attended school at any time since September, 1909?
  26. Is the person's home owned or rented?
  27. Is the person's home owned free or mortgaged?
  28. Does the person reside in a home or on a farm?
  29. If on a farm, what is the farm's identification number on the census farm schedule?
  30. Is the person a survivor of the Union or Confederate Army or Navy?
  31. Is the person blind in both eyes?
  32. Is the person deaf and dumb?

Indian Population Schedule

Enumerators of American Indians living on reservations or in family groups outside of reservations used a special modified schedule for the 1910 census which included an extra page of questions. Columns 1 through 32 were almost identical to the general population schedule. The only difference is that enumerators were instructed to mark "Ration Indian" in column 18 for occupation for those American Indians who did not work and were wholly dependent on government support. Those who work and received some support were to have their occupation listed, followed by the letter "R." Enumerators asked those listed on the Indian population schedule the following additional questions, listed by column number:

  1. Tribe of this person
  2. Tribe of this person's father
  3. Tribe of this person's mother
  4. Proportion of this person's lineage that is American Indian
  5. Proportion of this person's lineage that is white
  6. Proportion of this person's lineage that is black
  7. Number of times married
  8. Is this person living in polygamy?
  9. If this person is living in polygamy, are his wives sisters?
  10. If this person graduated from an educational institution, which one?
  11. Is this person a taxed?

    An American Indian was considered "taxed" if he or she was detached from his or her tribe and was living in the white community and subject to general taxation, or had been alloted land by the federal government and thus acquired citizenship.
  12. If this person had received an allotment of land from the government, what was the year of that allotment?
  13. Is this person residing on his or her own land?
  14. Is this person living in a "civilized" or "aboriginal" dwelling?

    Enumerators were to mark "Civ." (for "civilized") if the person was living in a log, frame, brick, or stone house, etc. and "Abor." (for "aboriginal") if the person was living in a tent, tepee, cliff dwelling, etc.

 

 

 

1910 Instructions

The following instructions were distributed to approximately 70,000 enumerators who conducted the 1910 population and agriculture censuses as of April 15, 1910.


1910 Instructions [PDF 5.74MB]

 

 

 

 

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