Daily AncestorThe 1900 U.S. Census
The 1900 census, dated June 1, 1900, is the only one to give each person's month and year of birth, and it counts how many children each mother had.
The twelfth census was taken as of June 1, 1900, with two weeks to finish in larger places and a month in the countryside. The country was split into 52,726 enumeration districts, and Hawaii was counted under U.S. supervision for the first time.
For family historians it is one of the most detailed censuses. Besides age, it asks month and year of birth, years married, how many children a woman had and how many were still living, and when immigrants arrived.
The questions, column by column
| Name and relationship to the head of the family | Head is listed first. |
|---|---|
| Color or race, sex | As recorded by the enumerator. |
| Month and year of birth | Asked to catch careless ages. Still compare with other records. |
| Age at last birthday | As of June 1, 1900. |
| Marital status and number of years married | Years with the present spouse. Married during the census year is written 0. |
| Mother of how many children, and number of these living | Stillborn children are not counted. |
| Place of birth of the person, father, and mother | Country for immigrants. |
| Year of immigration, years in the U.S., naturalization | Al for alien, Pa for first papers filed, Na for naturalized. |
| Occupation, months not employed, can read, can write, can speak English | Months not employed covers June 1, 1899, to May 31, 1900. |
| Home owned or rented, free or mortgaged, farm or house | O for owned, R for rented, M for mortgaged. |
New this census
- Month and year of birth.
- Years married.
- Year of immigration.
- Children born and living, and home owned or rented, were first asked in 1890, but those pages burned, so 1900 is where most families first see them.
Watch out for
- Pa means first papers, not a passport.
- If children born is larger than children living, look for burials of children who died young.
- A birth year here that disagrees with later censuses is common; weigh all of them together.
Other schedules
- A separate Indian population schedule.
- Military and naval personnel were counted through the War and Navy Departments, and large institutions by special enumerators.
Where to see it
- Microfilm T623. FamilySearch (free with an account) and Ancestry (free on computers at National Archives facilities) both index it and show the images. Enumeration district maps for 1900 to 1940 (A3378) are on FamilySearch.