When people talk about the U.S. Census, most think of it as just a headcount. But by 1880, the census had become something far more powerful. It wasn’t just about population totals or determining how...
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South Seas Plantation on Captiva Island | Postcards from the Past
I really love looking at and collecting postcards—especially vintage postcards. Here at Ancestral Findings, I’ve collected thousands and thousands of them over the years. People have sent me...
Tracing Formerly Enslaved Ancestors: A Companion to the 1870 Census
The 1870 U.S. Census is a milestone for many family historians. For those tracing African American ancestry, it often marks the very first time their ancestors appear in a public federal record by...
Inside the 1870 Census
The 1870 U.S. Census may be one of the most significant records ever created in the country’s history. For the first time, every person—Black, white, free-born, formerly enslaved, immigrant...
Richard Mentor Johnson: A Controversial Hero
As we continue through our The Forgotten Seconds series—exploring the lives of vice presidents who never became president—we now turn to one of the most unusual figures ever to hold the office...
The Sacrifices of Daniel D. Tompkins
Early Family Roots in New York and England Daniel D. Tompkins was born on June 21, 1774, in the town of Scarsdale in Westchester County, New York. He came into a world still under British rule, just...
Inside the 1860 Census
The 1860 U.S. Census might be one of the most emotionally charged documents in early American history. On the surface, it looks similar to 1850—names, ages, occupations, birthplaces, property values...
Inside the 1850 Census
By the time the 1850 U.S. Census was taken, the United States was no longer a slow-growing collection of coastal settlements. It was a booming, restless, coast-to-coast land of contradictions. The...
Inside the 1840 Census
The 1840 U.S. Census might be early American recordkeeping’s most overlooked turning point. It still looks like the older ones—just one name listed, a page full of tick marks, and plenty of...
Inside the 1830 Census
By 1830, the United States had reached a new kind of maturity. For some, the Revolution was no longer in living memory, though a surprising number of veterans were still alive and tucked into...