Census Name Rolls

HeritageQuest - Census name rolls from 1790 to 1930 are indexed and available in full text. Other local history and genealogical materials are also available from the resource. (UVA only)

Historical Background: Article I, Section 2, of the Constitution requires an "Enumeration" of the population of the United States every ten years.  The first census began on the first Monday in August, 1790, barely a year after the Inauguration of President Washington.  There have been twenty-one censuses since the first, the most recent one taken on April 1, 2000.  For more historical background see the Bureau of the Census Measuring America: The Decennial Censuses from 1790 to 2000
(Print copy in Gov Info Reading Room, Shelf Row 15) and the National Archives and Records Administration's The 1790-1890 Federal Population Censuses, Part 1: Introduction.

What census records are available generally?  By law census records about individuals must be 72 years old before being released publicly.  The only exception to the 72-year confidentiality requirement is that age information about deceased individuals may be released to the decedent's heirs.  For additional information see the Bureau of the Census Age Search page.  Once the records are 72 years old, their jurisdiction passes to the National Archives and Records Administration.  For a comprehensive list of the records (or schedules) released to date see the National Archives and Records Administration's Genealogy Microfilm Catalogs.

A publication from the Census entitled Availability of Census Records about Individuals is a good overview of what might or might not be available for your genealogical research.

Destroyed Schedules: No schedules are known to exist for 1790 for Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Virginia. Only scattered schedules for 1800 are extant. Apparently, both the 1790 and the 1800 missing schedules were destroyed during the British attack on Washington during the War of 1812. The 1790 schedules for Virginia were based on state enumeration's done about 1785.  
The 1890 schedules were almost all lost when a fire broke out in the Department of Commerce building in January 1921.  For additional information on the fate of the 1890 census schedules see  Kellee Blake, "First in the Path of the Firemen" The Fate of the 1890 Population Census (Prologue: Quarterly of the National Archives and Records Administration, Spring 1996, vol. 28, no. 1).

What census records are available in Alderman Library?  The Library's collection of census records is not comprehensive.  The table below shows which records are available by state. 

Call numbers for UVA Name Rolls

1790 - Print volumes in Microforms Guide Area, 3rd floor Reading Room
• 1800 - Micfilm 7588
• 1810 - Micfilm 7589
• 1820 - Micfilm 7590
• 1830 - Micfilm 7591
• 1840 - Micfilm 7592

Using the NARA Census guides to find microfilm name rolls.
1790-1890 - Click on the census you are interested in and see which reels you need for your county. Also, consult red census microfilm catalogs on Aisle 13 in Gov. Info Reading Room.
1900
1910
1920
1930 - To locate microfilm roll numbers for the 1930 Census for Virginia see How to Research the 1930 Census Microfilm - pick the state in the upper left box, go to the lower half of the page and pick your county, then type your place in on the last page. You'll get a list of microfilm reels which include your place.
Indian Census name rolls