Clinton Co., OH Genealogy

Clinton Co., OHGenWeb

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About Census Records

Ohio became a territory in 1799 and a state in 1803. The first census available for Ohio is in 1820. Clinton County has census records available for each 10 year period with the exception on 1890 in which there is not considered to be a census available for any state.

No Colonial census' are available.

Overview

1790 through 1840 had only counts of individuals by age group listed in one line under the name of the head of household. Although these records can be difficult to use to gather information for an individual, they can be used to track summary information by household including the number of individuals living in the house (note: those listed may not be all related) and the movements of the families.

Starting in 1850, the birth place of the individual is included which is expanded in 1880 to include the birth place of both of the parents. 1900 starts to include some additional details about exact ages, years of marriage, number of children along with immigration and naturalization details.

Schedules

Here is a site where you can see the census forms, and print copies for your own use. Printable Census Forms provided by FamilySearch.Org website.

Highlights

1810

This census consists of a count of men and women by age grouping. The age groups were:

Under 10
10-16
16-26
26-45
45 and Older

Free persons and Slaves were a single counted column.

1820

This census maintained the same age grouping system that was now extended to Slaves and Free Colored Persons. Single counts remained for Foreigners Not Naturalized, Other Persons and a count for the number of persons engaged in Agriculture, Commerce and Manufacture.

1830
This census changed the age grouping to be more specific. The age groupings for men and women were now in 5 year increments up to age 20 and in 10 year increments up to 100+. Slaves had larger age groupings.

Columns were then added for the following groups:

Deaf and Dumb (under age 14)
Deaf and Dumb (under age 25)
Deaf and Dumb (25 and older)
Blind
Aliens-Foreigners not Naturalized

1840
This census was the last year of age groups without each individual being named. Pension information was also added.

1850
1850 is the first year that each individual is listed, by name of initials, for each household. The age and sex is listed for each person along with notations of there color.

Profession or Occupation is listed along with the value of real-estate owned. School attendence, ability to read and write along with a few notes on handicaps, legal and financial troubles.

Of great use is the column added to note the Place of Birth. It notes if an individual has been married within the year.

1880
Here we finally get Place of Birth information for both the individual and each parent!! Also provided is the relation of each person to the head-of-household.

1900
1900 contains the actual month and year of birth rather than just the age of the individual. It lists the number of years married and the number of children that have been born and how many are alive.

It also lists the year of immigration to the USA and whether the individual has been naturalized along with the number of years in the USA.

1910
1910 loses the birth date information but provides more information regarding the employment and occupation of the individuals.

The National Archives and Records Administration has its census microfilm catalogs on-line. Their worldwide web page has a section tailored specifically for the genealogist.

NARA also has a very reasonable microfilm rental program where genealogists may rent films through the mail and view them at their local libraries for a period of time. Contact the reference librarian at your local library for more information about that program.