History

Census Instructions

1880 Instructions

The Census Act of 1879 (March 3, 1879), authorized enumerators "to visit personally each dwelling house in his sub-division, and each family therein, and each individual living out of a family in any place of abode, and by inquiry made of the head of such family, or of the member there of deemed most credible and worthy of trust, or of such individual living out of a family, to obtain each and every item of information and all the particulars." In case no one was available at a family's usual place of abode, the enumerator was directed by the law "to obtain the required information, as nearly as may be practicable, from the family or families, or person or persons, living nearest to such place of abode."

In accordance with the instructions below, enumerators conducted the 1880 decennial census using five schedules: "Population," "Mortality," "Agriculture," "Social Statistics," and "Manufacturing."