University Archives is pleased to announce the availability of the Index to the 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, and 1900 U.S. Censuses of Portage County, Wisconsin. The database is searchable by names, townships and years. Detailed introductions to each census year in the index include the names of the enumerators (the census takers), county boundaries, the information that was to be recorded, and details on the context of Portage County within the entire U.S. Census. The 1890 Census was almost completely destroyed by fire (all that remains is a census of Civil War Union Veterans and their widows, which is not indexed here).
The Index provides not only the details of the inhabitants of the county, but a fascinating glimpse at how our local history was recorded, as can be seen in this excerpt from the Introduction to the Tenth (1880) Census:
The 1880 census, regarded by some as the first “modern” census of the United States, was taken during the month of June, 1880, and was the first to use a specially-appointed staff of more than 31,000 enumerators. Earlier censuses had been the responsibility of existing local officials, typically sheriffs and federal marshals.
Each
introduction also cautions users on the difficulties of accurately transcribing
the data:
...considerable care and effort has gone into deciphering the penmanship, which is generally good, but as with all records of this type, large allowance should be made for variant spellings and misspellings. In some cases it is possible only to make a reasonable guess as to the enumerator’s intent. All of the enumerators had learned penmanship in school, but they were more or less successful at it. Spelling of names became a challenge, especially when the enumerator and his subject were of different ethnic extractions, and did not speak each other’s language.
(click on the image above to see the page in a larger version)
Users may request copies of specific census pages, one household for one census year per request. The cost per request is $10.00. An online order form is available for this purpose.
The Index to the 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, and 1900 U.S. Censuses of Portage County, Wisconsin is available at http://library.uwsp.edu/census/.