US Census 1880
Explore the 1880 United States census and find out more about your ancestors.
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Explore the 1880 United States census and find out more about your ancestors.
Learn about these records
- 1880 US Census Date: June 1, 1880 (All reported data is “as of” this official date chosen by the census agency)
- 1880 Census Duration: 5 months
- 1880 US Census Population: 50,189,209
- President During 1880 Census: Rutherford B. Hayes
38 States participated in1880 census. New States in 1860 census: Colorado. Participating territories: New Mexico, Idaho, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Washington, Alaska, Dakota and Indian.
1880 Census Data: 10th United States Census [list][]It took $5,791,000, approximately 31,382 enumerators and 21,458 published reports to complete the 1880 census. []The US population increased by 26 percent from the 1870 census to the 1880 census. []1880 was the first year the census reported the relationship of each person to the head of the household as well as the birthplace of each person’s parents.
Information requested for the 1880 US Census
- Name, Color, Sex, Age
- Month of birth
- Relationship to the head of the family
- Marital status
- Is the person widowed or divorced?
- Was the person married within the census year?
- Profession, occupation, or trade
- Number of months the person had been employed within the census year
- Was, on the day of the enumerator's visit, the person was sick or disabled so as to be unable to attend to ordinary business or duties? If so, what was the sickness or disability?
- Blind, deaf, dumb, idiotic or insane?
- Was the person maimed, crippled, bedridden, or otherwise disabled?
- Had the person attended school in the past year?
- Can the person read or write?
- What was the person's place of birth?
- What was the person's father's place of birth?
- What was the person's mother's place of birth?
No major loss of records for the 1880 Census.
Famous people in history: P.T. Barnum
Phineas Taylor Barnum was known as a showman, entertainer, ringmaster, as well as a scam artist, promoter of hoaxes and poor investor. Barnum was born July 5, 1810 in Bethel, Connecticut, and after of life as a promoter of all kinds he debuted at the age of 60 his "Greatest Show on Earth,” a long-running traveling circus that has delighted generations.
Barnum went to great lengths to gain a profit, including showcasing a fake “Feejee Mermaid” from Calcutta, promoting various sideshow curiosities, and presenting opera singer Jenny Lind at a reported $1,000 a night (an astronomical price at the time). His success often relied with his ability to generate interest in his acts, for example the lore and public obsession caused over one of his most beloved attractions, Jumbo the 12-foot African elephant.
The collaborative “Barnum and Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth” started in 1881 and ran long enough to see its 200th anniversary. Barnum suffered a stroke in 1890 during a performance and died in 1891.
Historical Events Surrounding 1880 US Census
- September 4, 1882: Thomas Edison’s Pearl Street Station became the first central power plant in the United States generating electricity for 400 street lamps and 85 customers
- The Statue of Liberty arrives from France in July of 1885
- North and South Dakota, Montana and Washington all become states in November of 1889
Searching the US Census records
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Please note that the terms used in historical records reflect attitudes and language at the time and may now be considered derogatory or offensive.
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Researchers may use the Race field to find those individuals identified in the transcripts as ‘black’, ‘negro’, or ‘mulatto’. Note that we have standardised the spelling of ‘mulatto’, which is spelt in various different ways in the original records. The original records contain all three of the foregoing terms and, while the distinction between black and mulatto is generally adhered to, sometimes the terms are used interchangeably – the same man may be described as mulatto and black/negro in different records.
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Not all black or mulatto individuals are described as such – sometimes the records (or the transcripts) are silent in this respect. Therefore, if you find a man by searching, without a name, for the search term “mulatto”, for instance, you would then want to repeat your search under his name, removing the search term “mulatto”, to fetch all possible references to him.