Marshal

The title once meant a high officer of a royal household or army, but in American records it names a law officer. United States marshals, created in 1789, served the federal courts of each district, serving writs and warrants. Local lawmen were also often called marshals, so a marshal in a town may be a local officer.

Federal marshals also took the national census every decade through 1870; the people who actually went door to door were their assistant marshals.