From Ancestry.com
The 1820 census was begun on 7 August 1820. The count was due within six months but was extended by law to allow completion within thirteen months.
Questions Asked in the 1820 Census
Name of family head; number of free white males and females in age categories 0 to 10, 10 to 16, 16 to 18, 16 to 26, 26 to 45, 45 and older; number of other free persons except Indians not taxed; number of slaves; and town or district and county of residence. Additionally, the 1820 census for the first time asked the number of free white males 16 to 18; number of persons not naturalized; number engaged in agriculture, commercial, or manufacture; number of “colored” persons (sometimes in age categories); and number of other persons except Indians.
The added questions in the 1820 census break down ages so that it is possible to gauge the age of young men more accurately. However, the redundancy of asking the number of free white males “Between 16 and 18,” and “Of 16 and under 26,” “Of 26 and under 45,” “Of 45 and upwards,” is frequently cause for confusion in attempts to calculate the total number of persons in a given household. The column regarding naturalization status may be some indication of length of residency in the United States and the possibility of finding naturalization papers in a local court.
The questions asked regarding number and nature of those involved in agriculture, commercial, or manufacturing enterprises allow researchers to make some distinctions about the occupation of the head and any others in the household who were employed. Some, though admittedly not much, identifying information is available where schedules go beyond stating the number of “colored” persons and provide an age breakdown as well. The 1820 manufacturing schedules are on twenty-nine separate rolls of microfilm.
23 Areas were enumerated
Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia
Full Version: 1820 Census
Ancestrally Challenged Forum > How to's, Wherefore's and Aforementioned's > The Maze of Census Records
This is a pdf of the blank census form
http://www.ancestrallychallenged.com/upload/1820.pdf
This is an actual page from the Haywood Co, NC enumeration
http://www.ancestrallychallenged.com/upload/1820.pdf
This is an actual page from the Haywood Co, NC enumeration
Thank you, thank you, thank you ! 
Most of these are just about impossible to read and too many have the top of the report cut off and you don't have an idea what the corresponding info means.
In looking at the blank 1820 form, I see there is a column for Foreigner/Un-naturalized citizen. In this particular Census report, specifically for Henry Wade in Habersham County, GA., I now see that one of the columns has a "1" listed for a foreigner and Asa Jordan, shown next to Henry has 2 listed in that column. We think this Jordan family must be related to Henry in that he married a Tempe Jordan in 1815.
For all of the more experienced researchers here, could this possibly mean, in the case of Henry, that this foreigner might be one of his parents? brother or sister? And the same for Asa Jordan? Is there any way to determine who these folks might be?
Thanks for your insight and if this is posted in the wrong topic, please feel free to move it to the correct one.
Chief
Most of these are just about impossible to read and too many have the top of the report cut off and you don't have an idea what the corresponding info means.
In looking at the blank 1820 form, I see there is a column for Foreigner/Un-naturalized citizen. In this particular Census report, specifically for Henry Wade in Habersham County, GA., I now see that one of the columns has a "1" listed for a foreigner and Asa Jordan, shown next to Henry has 2 listed in that column. We think this Jordan family must be related to Henry in that he married a Tempe Jordan in 1815.
For all of the more experienced researchers here, could this possibly mean, in the case of Henry, that this foreigner might be one of his parents? brother or sister? And the same for Asa Jordan? Is there any way to determine who these folks might be?
Thanks for your insight and if this is posted in the wrong topic, please feel free to move it to the correct one.
Chief
all you're really going to be able to deduce from that is there was 1 (or 2 in the Jordan's case) person living in the household that was foriegn, it could have been a member of the family or a domestic...ugh I hate censuses that dont enumerate the whole household!!!
info of foriengers and naturalization (according to his it would be very possible for someone to have not completed the process when the census was taken, so they were foriegn in 1820 and naturalized by 1830
info of foriengers and naturalization (according to his it would be very possible for someone to have not completed the process when the census was taken, so they were foriegn in 1820 and naturalized by 1830
QUOTE
The Courts
The first naturalization law was passed by U. S. Congress in 1790 and through much of the 20th century, an alien could become naturalized in any court of record. People usually went to the court most convenient to them, which usually was a county court. While the names and types of courts vary through the years, they may include the county, supreme, circuit, district, equity, chancery, probate, or common pleas court. Most researchers will find that their ancestors became naturalized in one of these courts. A few State supreme courts also naturalized aliens, such as the supreme courts of Indiana, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, New Jersey, and South Dakota. Aliens who lived in large urban areas sometimes became naturalized in a federal court, such as a U. S. district court or U. S. circuit court.
As a general rule, naturalization was a two-step process that took a minimum of five years. After residing in the United States for two years, an alien could file a "declaration of intent" (so-called "first papers") to become a citizen. After three additional years, the alien could "petition for naturalization." After the petition was granted, a certificate of citizenship then was issued. These two steps did not have to take place in the same court. As a general rule, the DI (Declaration of Intent) generally contains more genealogically useful information than the Petition, but a search for both should be conducted. Sometimes declarations include the alien's month and year (or possibly the exact date) of immigration into the United States and even the name of ship.
Exceptions
Derivative citizenship was granted to wives and minor children of naturalized men. From 1790 to 1922, wives of naturalized men automatically became citizens. An alien woman who married a U. S. citizen automatically became a citizen. (Conversely, an American woman who married an alien lost her U. S. citizenship, even if she never left the United States.) From 1790 to 1940 children under the age of 21 automatically became naturalized citizens upon the naturalization of their father. Unfortunately, however, names and biographical information about wives and children are rarely included in declarations or petitions filed before September 1906. From 1824 to 1906, minor aliens who had lived in the United States five years before their 23rd birthday could file both their declarations and petitions at the same time.
Special consideration was given to veterans. An 1862 law allowed honorably discharged Army veterans of any war to petition for naturalization — without previously having filed a declaration of intent — after only one year of residence in the United States. If your ancestor filed for a Homestead claim under the Homestead Act of 1862, or applied for a passport, the application for either may give the name of the court where the naturalization took place.
An 1894 law extended the same no-previous-declaration privilege to honorably discharged five-year veterans of the Navy or Marine Corps. Under an act in 1918 aliens serving in the U. S. armed forces during World War I were allowed to file a petition for naturalization without making a declaration of intent or proving 5 years' residence. More than 192,000 aliens were naturalized between May 9, 1918, and June 30, 1919. Other laws later enacted continued various preferential treatment provisions for veterans.
The first naturalization law was passed by U. S. Congress in 1790 and through much of the 20th century, an alien could become naturalized in any court of record. People usually went to the court most convenient to them, which usually was a county court. While the names and types of courts vary through the years, they may include the county, supreme, circuit, district, equity, chancery, probate, or common pleas court. Most researchers will find that their ancestors became naturalized in one of these courts. A few State supreme courts also naturalized aliens, such as the supreme courts of Indiana, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, New Jersey, and South Dakota. Aliens who lived in large urban areas sometimes became naturalized in a federal court, such as a U. S. district court or U. S. circuit court.
As a general rule, naturalization was a two-step process that took a minimum of five years. After residing in the United States for two years, an alien could file a "declaration of intent" (so-called "first papers") to become a citizen. After three additional years, the alien could "petition for naturalization." After the petition was granted, a certificate of citizenship then was issued. These two steps did not have to take place in the same court. As a general rule, the DI (Declaration of Intent) generally contains more genealogically useful information than the Petition, but a search for both should be conducted. Sometimes declarations include the alien's month and year (or possibly the exact date) of immigration into the United States and even the name of ship.
Exceptions
Derivative citizenship was granted to wives and minor children of naturalized men. From 1790 to 1922, wives of naturalized men automatically became citizens. An alien woman who married a U. S. citizen automatically became a citizen. (Conversely, an American woman who married an alien lost her U. S. citizenship, even if she never left the United States.) From 1790 to 1940 children under the age of 21 automatically became naturalized citizens upon the naturalization of their father. Unfortunately, however, names and biographical information about wives and children are rarely included in declarations or petitions filed before September 1906. From 1824 to 1906, minor aliens who had lived in the United States five years before their 23rd birthday could file both their declarations and petitions at the same time.
Special consideration was given to veterans. An 1862 law allowed honorably discharged Army veterans of any war to petition for naturalization — without previously having filed a declaration of intent — after only one year of residence in the United States. If your ancestor filed for a Homestead claim under the Homestead Act of 1862, or applied for a passport, the application for either may give the name of the court where the naturalization took place.
An 1894 law extended the same no-previous-declaration privilege to honorably discharged five-year veterans of the Navy or Marine Corps. Under an act in 1918 aliens serving in the U. S. armed forces during World War I were allowed to file a petition for naturalization without making a declaration of intent or proving 5 years' residence. More than 192,000 aliens were naturalized between May 9, 1918, and June 30, 1919. Other laws later enacted continued various preferential treatment provisions for veterans.
Thanks for this info. This is most helpful.
Chief
Chief
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.