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Census Report Info Layout - Need to make consistent

Brian Lightfoot
Brian Lightfoot ✭
November 16, 2021 in Suggest an Idea

In my typical research, I rely on the Census Reports generated while viewing an individual’s census info such as https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZ4P-YPR.

I then click on the button SAVE, COPY FULL REPORT… and from there I copy the pertinent source information into my genealogy database as well as the source citation.

However, I have been bothered by the variance in how Family Search presents this generated Census Report in that the layout and positioning of similar data appears in different places within the Census Report. Here are two major categories of these variances.

I would suggest that for the sake of consistency Family Search would want to make this presentation of data as uniform in appearance as possible. I realize that there are contractual commitments that apply to some of these census databases but the Census Report is wholly generated from within Family Search’s programming and does not affect that data nor change any data. Therefore, I believe Family Search should be able to make the changes so that all of the census reports appear uniform in how this data is presented to the user.

 1.                US State Designations in Census Reports

All census reports (SAVE, COPY FULL REPORT…) will display the state of birth of the individual however the 1880 US Census report is unique in that it includes “United States” after the name of the state.

Examples of family names from two different Census reports for the same family:

1870 Census Report

Caroline Ferrill               F           48          Virginia

Emma Ferrill                   F           16          Virginia

Margaret Ferrill             F           13          Virginia

Jane Ferrill                      F           9            Virginia

Enoch Ferrill                   M         8            Virginia

Olive Ferrill                     F           6            West Virginia

Sanford Ferrill                M         4            West Virginia

Louisa Bambridge         F           20          Virginia

Elisha Bambridge          M         18          Virginia

Hilo C Ferrill                    M         28          Virginia


1880 Census Report

Caroline Ferrell        Wife               F           59        Maryland, United States

Emna Ferrell              Daughter      F           25        West Virginia, United States

Enoch Ferrell             Son                 M         17        West Virginia, United States

Olive Ferrell               Daughter      F           16        West Virginia, United States

Sanford Ferrell         Son                 M         14        West Virginia, United States


2.                Variance in Data Layout and positioning

The exact data locations vary in placement within the census report and vary in what data is included. The following list shows the variance of such data typically shown in the Census reports.

Page/Sheet Number

1850: not shown

1860: shown ABOVE family names

1870: shown ABOVE family names

1880: shown BELOW family names and also ABOVE with separate “Sheet Letter”

1900: shown BELOW family names and also ABOVE with separate “Sheet Letter”

1910: shown BELOW family names and also ABOVE with separate “Sheet Letter”

1920: shown ABOVE family names and also ABOVE with separate “Sheet Letter”

1930: shown BELOW family names and also ABOVE with separate “Sheet Letter”

1940: shown BELOW family names and also BELOW with separate “Sheet Letter”


Household Identifier/Family Number

1850: shown ABOVE family names

1860: shown BELOW family names

1870: shown BELOW family names

1880: not shown (shows ambiguous number on “Household Identifier”)

1900: shown BELOW family names

1910: shown BELOW family names

1920: shown ABOVE family names

1930: shown BELOW family names

1940: shown BELOW family names


Enumeration District Number:

1850: n/a

1860: n/a

1870: n/a

1880: not shown (appears on “View Original Document”)

1900: not shown (sometimes appears as part of incorrectly indexed “Event Place” or in “Citing this Record”)

1910: not shown (sometimes appears as part of incorrectly indexed “Event Place” or in “Citing this Record”)

1920: not shown (appears only on “View Original Document”)

1930: not shown (appears only on “View Original Document” or in “Citing this Record”)

1940: not shown (appears only on “View Original Document” or in “Citing this Record”)


Roll Number (Affiliate Film Number):

1850: shown ABOVE family names

1860: shown BELOW family names

1870: not shown

1880: shown BELOW family names

1900: not shown

1910: shown BELOW family names

1920: shown ABOVE family names

1930: shown BELOW family names

1940: shown BELOW family names


The 1880 census reports from FamilySearch are also somewhat unique in that they use the term “Sheet” instead of “Page” which is found on all other census documents prior to 1900. Only the 1900 and later census records use the term “Sheet”. In other words, the actual documents use the words “Page” prior to 1900 and “Sheet” on 1900 and beyond.


As a final note, I should mention that in my opinion either the 1910 or 1940 Census Reports are the best ones in that they present all of the above pertinent data together in one location on the report. Those years should be a model for all the other census years.

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