When you run out of official VITAL records, then you must resort to official PUBLIC records. And, yes, some of these are also Primary documents, as long as they are copies of the originals.
Probate Records- these include intestate records and Wills.
Land Records - Deeds, Deed of Gifts, Sheriff's Sales, etc.
Court Records - of Minutes of proceedings, Power of Attorney, Divorces, Bankruptcy and in older court records, bastardy bonds, guardian bonds, jury duty, road crew duty, estray records and even recording of marks and brands.
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I want to talk about the FEDERAL CENSUS now. There are many State Censuses but, we will talk about them later.
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The 1790 FEDERAL Census was called that but, was not actually a census in some states. Some of it was actually, the 1785 & 1787 tax lists, (in the case of Virginia)
According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census there is no "Census" available for Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey or Tennessee, for 1790. These states had census taken but were destroyed, possibly in the War of 1812.
Of course, there is a tax list for Delaware, Virginia, Washington, DC, Kentucky, New Jersey and the Ohio Territory which is where the states of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Tennessee are, now.

It included the name of the HEAD OF THE HOUSEHOLD, ONLY. The other data is categories of ages of the male and female members of the household - Free White Males of the ages of 16 years and older (INCLUDING, the head of the household);  ALL Free White Females, INCLUDING, the head of the household. (remember that only single females living alone or widows were considered heads of households and frankly, there weren't very many single female's living alone..
All other free persons (this would be farm laborers or boarders, etc. living with the family, who weren't members of the family, and the last category is slaves. There is also a column for remarks, that wasn't used very often.
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The 1800  and 1810  Federal Census, was identical in form.
This also told only the name of, the head of the household but, now the age categories are broken down, more.
Free White Males UNDER the age of 10, So this means boys 0-9 years.
Free White Males from 10 and under the age of 16,   10-15 years.
Free White Males from 16 and under the age of 26, 16-25 years
Free White Males from 26 and under the age of 45, 26-44 years
Free White Males 45 and over.
The same categories applied to the females, also.
All other free persons except INDIANS
Slaves
Remarks

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The 1820 FEDERAL Census gave the name of the Head of the Household and a new break down of ages.
F.W. (Free White) Males under 10
F.W. Males 10 and under 16
F.W. Males 16 and under 18
F.W. Males 16 and under 26 ( So here you would have a duplication of individuals, if there were any boys 16 or 17 years of age.)
F. W. Males 26 and under 45
F. W. Males 45 +
The females were only asked for:
Under 10; 10 and under 16; 16 and under 26; 26 and under 45; 45 +
Foreigners not naturalized
(Here is where you can see if your ancestor was a newcomer to the U.S.) Foreigners were required to apply for naturalization papers within 5 years of immigrating to the U.S. Many did not and got away with it. But, some of them also served in the military and became a citizen that way or married a citizen. So, don't be surprised, if you can't find naturalization papers.

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The 1830 and 1840 census forms are the same:
The Head of the Household is give and then there are 13 age categories for males and females.
Under 5|5-10|10-15|15-20|20-30|30-40|40-50|50-60|60-70|70-80|80-90|90-100| Over 100|
There are also columns for Slaves| Free Colored| Foreigners not Naturalized and Pensioners. (Pensioners are only on the 1840 census)
This is where you find your Rev. War ancestor if he is living and on the census!!
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The 1850 FEDERAL Census of the U.S. is the first census to include the names of everyone in the household, with the age, race, sex, occupation, value of real estate, where born, and whether the person could read or write. Also, the last column often tells if the person was handicapped by designation of "deaf, "dumb" or "blind" AND the census taker often wrote "insane", if the person was senile, or mentally handicapped.
(Remember, these were the days before political correctness)

The 1860 Census is just like the 1850 census, as to format
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The 1870 Census gives the names of every member of the household, age, sex, color, occupation, value of the real estate and for the first time, the value of personal property. The birthplace of each member of the family and now, for the first time, it asks for the birthplace of the Father & Mother of each member of the family.
It asks the month of birth, if a child has been born in the year. The month of marriage, if married in the year. If the person has been to school within the year; if the person can't read or write; eligibility to vote and a remarks column.
Here is where you may discover whether all the children in the family were born to the same mother or father, by checking if all the children have the same entry for, place of birth, for parents.
If the members of the household, old enough to vote aren't given as "eligible to vote" Then, you have someone who may be Indian, as they were not allowed to vote then.
Of course, you must make sure that the column for "foreigners, not naturalized" is not checked. Unnaturalized aliens could not vote either, nor could criminals.
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The 1880 Census of the U.S.  asks for the first time, the Age of the person, prior to June 1st of that year. (The census was taken for all persons prior to that date) If a child was born during the year, then the month of birth is given.  Now, the census taker asks what the relationship to the head of the household is, for every person, in the house and if the people are single, married, widowed, divorced or married within the year.
There is a column for miscellaneous information that may give something unusual about the family.  There is a column if the person can't read or write and places of birth of the person and the mother and father's birthplace.  Always, check the remarks column at the edge of the page.
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The 1890 Census was destroyed by various tragedies, fire, water and accidental disposal of what was left, after the fire.
There are tiny portions that was rescued but, very little.
Texas has the most data, that survived.
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The 1900 Census isn't as good as the 1880 but, it is usually better than the 1910.
It asked the relationship to the head of the family, Color, Sex, Month of Birth, Year of Birth, Age, whether single, married widowed or divorced. Number of years married.
Now, they ask how many children the mother has given birth to, and how many are still surviving.
Everyone's place of birth and that of their Mother and Father.
The year they immigrated to the U.S. and how many years, they have lived in the U.S. If they are Naturalized, or not.
Occupation, how many months of the previous year, they were unemployed.  How many months they attended school, If they can read and write. If they can speak English. If they owned their home or rented it and if it was owned, was it mortgage free. Lastly, was their dwelling a house or a farm.
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The 1910 Census is an extremely difficult one to read. It was poorly done.  Some of it is impossible to read and the original pages were destroyed before this was realized so, nothing can be done to replace them. I am not sure but, I think some of the states copies have been used to fill some of the gaps.
This census was taken, beginning on April 15, of the year. So, if your ancestor was born after this date, they were not to be counted even, if the census taker came by the house on April 16!
The columns are much like the 1900 census. Except they ask the age of the person what their age was at their last birthday. They ask about immigration again and Naturalization.
The occupation of the head of the household become more important now. It has a column for "Trade or Profession of any kind" then a column for "nature of establishment or business in which persons works". Whether they are self employed or not, and the other questions in the other census about reading writing and place of birth.
There is a new column as to whether the person was a "survivor" of the Union or Confederate Army or Navy.
If someone was blind (both eyes) and whether "deaf and dumb"
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1920 Census
This census was the 14th census taken by the U.S. It included all the states and territories (the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, and the Panama Canal Zone. as well as the Military (Army & Naval) Forces. This one gives the name, gender, age, birthplace, year of immigration  and year of naturalization, to the U.S. (if foreign born) what the 'mother tongue' of the individual was, the parent's birthplace. If you find a man whose age is 20 or over, in this census, then, you should find a WW I, draft card for him. Every male over the age of 18, had to register for the draft and be rated as to physical ability to serve.
NARA (National Archives and Records Administration) has details of each state and the enumeration districts with them, available on their web site. copy and paste the below URL to your browsers' window.
http://www.archives.gov/publications/microfilm-catalogs/census/1920/part-07.html
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1930 Census
By 1930 the U.S. had approximately 123 million in population. This is the largest census ever released and also the most recent. The next census will not be released until 1012.
This one gives all the information that the previous census' asked for, including their military service. HOWEVER, Servicemen were not recorded with their families. There were recorded as residents of their duty posts. So, if you know your ancestor was a serviceman in this year. You should not expect them to be listed with the family, even though you may find them there, and also in their duty post. It was common for people to be listed twice in all census'. Because, of the enumerators either getting their assigned area wrong or the people moved between the taking of the information.
This is the only census in which, people were not asked if they could read or write. They were not asked the year of their naturalization.
They were asked the if they rented or owned their home and if they owned how much the value of the home was and if they rented, how much the rent was. How old they were when they first married (first marriage only) and in which war(s) they served. They were also asked if they owned a radio.
Sounds strange but, the radio was, in that time period, an indication of how affluent the family was, much like in the later census, we were asked if we owned a television..

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STATE and TOWNSHIP CENSUS

Not all states or townships had census taken. New England States have a lot of Town census records.
And, others such as, PA, MD have some. You find them in places where there was an autonomous government of that town, rather than a county government.
 

TO BE CONTINUED: