Census Information
for Henry County Illinois

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Who held Illinois at what time?  To best use Federal Census information, it is helpful to know where Illinois was enumerated over the years.  Here's a little chart to assist you with this.

1810-1860 Indexes	The only complete State censuses during this time period are for 1820 and 1855.  Lists only head of household and head count of total number of family members.  Does NOT list individual family member names except that of the head of household.  Uses the same format as pre-1850 Federal Census records
1810	Randolph County
1820	Edwards County missing
1825	Edwards, Fulton and Randolph Counties
1830	Morgan County
1835	Fayette, Fulton, Jasper, Morgan, Putnam and Union Counties
1840	Adams, Bond, Brown, Calhoun, Champaign, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Coles, Cook, Crawford, Edgar, Effingham, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Jasper, Jo Daviess, Johnson, Knox, LaSalle, Lawrence, Livingston, Monroe, Randolph, Rock Island, Schuyler, Stark, Tazewell, Union, Vermillion, White and Whiteside Counties.
1845	Cass, Madison, Montgomery, Putnam and Tazewell Counties
1855	Schedules are missing for Carroll, Champaign, Franklin, Gallatin, Henry, Jefferson, Lake, Stark, Will and Woodford Counties
1865	Schedules are missing for Gallatin, Mason and Monroe Counties  The Henry County filming, at least the one I rented, shows that many pages were heavily damaged prior to filming.  Many of the pages are so badly damaged that only a few names at the bottom of each page are legible.

Compiled every 10 years on the even year for Illinois beginning 1820.  Information included on the Federal Census varied from decade to decade.

1820-1880 All Illinois Counties existing during those years are available

1890 only existing schedule is that for Mound Township of McDonough County.
          All other IL presumed destroyed by fire in 1921.

1900, 1910 1920 1930 Illinois County Census all available
 
 

1820 1830 1840	Full name of the head of the household, number and age of free white males and females residing in the household (not their names), and the number and sex of slaves or free colored persons.  Also shows the occupation of the head of household as well as categories indictating deaf, dumb, blind, insane aliens and illiterate persons over the age of 20
1850 1860	names, ages, sex, color and birthplace of all household residents., the occupation of males over 15 years of age, value of real estate owned, designation of deaf, dumb, blind or insane persons, convicts, notation of those who married or attended school during the year, and illiterates over the age of 20.
1870	All of the above information plus shows if parents are of foreign birth, immigrants who where naturalized as US Citizens and if they were eligible to vote.
1880	All of the above, plus the address of the household, illness or disability on the day the census was taken, number of months employed as of the day of the census count, and the birthplace of the mother and father of each individual (Country or state only) .  Also includes the relationship of household residents to the head of household.
1890	A more specific census was conducted but almost all records for 1890 were reportedly destroyed by fire in 1921.  No known copies of the 1890 Henry County schedules exist.
1900	Name of each person in the household, relationship to Head of Household, color or race, place of birth of each individual and their parents (country or state only),  month and year of birth, age, marital status, number of years the wife had been married, total number of children born and the number of children still  living, citizenship, occupation, number of illiterate persons in the household, whether the property was owned or rented by the residents, and whether the property was owned free and clear or was under mortgage.
1910	Same information as 1900 plus year of immigration and if an immigrant, the language spoken, number of weeks employed since 1909, whether the home was a house or a farm, whether a veteran of Union or Confederate army, or Navy.
1920	Same information as 1910 except , did not ask about unemployment, service in the Union or  Confederate army or navy,  number of children born and how long a couple had been married .This census included inmates of  institutions and dependent, defective, and delinquent classes. New items included the  year of naturalization and three questions to immigrants about mother tongue.  Due to boundary changes as a result of World War I,  province  (state or region) or city of persons or parents of  persons born in Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia, or  Turkey were indicated.  All other foreign births list only country.  Race determination  was based on the enumerator's impressions. Individuals were enumerated as residents of the place they regularly slept, not where they worked or were visiting. People with no regular residence, such as  members of transient railroad or construction camps, were enumerated as residents where they were the day  the was taken. Residents  were asked if  family members were temporarily absent and  these were  listed either with the household or on the last  schedule for the census subdivision.
1930	The 1930 census  became available on April 1, 2002 at the National Archives Building, 700    Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20408-0001, and at Regional Facilities in 13 major cities.   Information which will be available on this release include  Street, avenue, road, etc.,  House number (in cities or towns), number of dwelling house in order of visitation,    Number of family in order of vistation, name of each person whose place of abode  on April 1, 1930, was in this family, relationship of this person to the head of the family,  Home owned or rented,   value of home if owned or rent amout if rented, whether the family owned a radio, if the family lived on a farm, the sex, color or race (race specific to Mexican, Chinese, etc), age at last birthday, Marital status, age at first marriage, whether could read/write and if attended school or college since Sep 1, 1929; place of birth of person and parents, native language of foreign born; language spoken in home before arriving in US, year of immigration and if naturalized citizen, whether person spoke english, occupation and type of business, class of worker, whether person had worked the day before the census was taken or if on unemployment,  veteran status and of which war,  and the number of the household on the farm schedule (the farm schedules however no longer exist)

Federal Mortality Schedules	1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880 Mortality Schedules are available for Henry County.  These records show listings of deaths which occurred during the one year period immediately before the census enumeration.  The 1850 Henry Co Mortality Schedule is online at this site.
Indexes	Indexes for various years and areas have been compiled by individuals, publishers and societies.  Check library resources for your area of interest.
Soundex Indexes 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920 only	The Soundex is an index based on the phonetic makeup of a Surname. Surnames that sound the same, but are spelled differently, like SMITH and SMYTH, have the same code and are filed together. Surname, given name, age, sex, race, enumeration district, city, county and state of residence, others in household, including the relationship, page and line number in the original census record were taken from the census and placed on a card, then "coded" according to the phonetic makeup of the surname.  To locate the soundex code for the name you are interested in  you may use the National Archives "Soundex Machine" at  http://www.nara.gov/genealogy/soundex/soundex.html 1880 is missing 1000 "O" cards and did not list children under age 10 1890 was not indexed due to fire 1910 only 21 states were done (Illinois is one of them) on a soundex/miracode system. 1920 not all completed (Illinois was done) For more information on how the Soundex works, see  http://www.nara.gov/genealogy/coding.html