Why am I unable to access census records?
I am trying to access the 1860, 1850, 1840, 1830, 1820, 1810, 1800, and 1790 census records for Halifax, North Carolina. The family in question is the Richard Chisholm family. Not sure if it is a computer glitch or if the books are just not published online. The only Family Search volunteer who was successful in accessing the 1860 and 1850 census records for Richard Chisholm and their family was a Family Search volunteer who works physically at your Utal sight. Four other Family Search volunteers ran into the same roadblock that I am facing. Thus I reached out to the State and National Archives for assistance until the Family Search Center is able to resolve this issue. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Answers
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Are you certain the Richard Chisholm family resided in Halifax County, North Carolina? I searched, using variants and wildcards, on Ancestry, with zero results.
Can you provide the PID of the family members for more detail? The given names of other members of the family would be useful. Sometimes we have to search without the surname.
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When using the catalog to find censuses, it's generally best to stick to the widest place (i.e., "United States") and look under Census there. While Halifax, North Carolina has catalog entries for the censuses up to 1860, those are not the digitized microfilms, but various publications on the subject of those censuses. (One of them purportedly has all of 1790-1850 on one item of one film. It's FHC/AL only, so I couldn't check what it actually is.)
For example, North Carolina is on page 7 of the catalog entry for the 1850 census (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/121180), and Halifax county is on DGS 4203581, not quite midway down that page.
However, like Áine, I was unable to find any Richard Chisholms enumerated in North Carolina between 1790 and 1860 (https://www.familysearch.org/search/record/results?count=100&q.givenName=Richard&q.surname=Chisholm&f.collectionId=1803765&f.collectionId=1803955&f.collectionId=1803958&f.collectionId=1786457&f.collectionId=1401638&f.collectionId=1473181).
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And I just verified, coming from a different direction, that Halifax County, in the 1850 Census, has 185 pages of names.
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I had no problem finding Richard Chisholm and his family. His PID' is
Please see attached.
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The records you have attached to Richard variously show his place of birth as Virginia or Maryland. I'm not clear on any connection to North Carolina.
What I do notice immediately is that Richard Chisholm was a person of color. If he was enslaved, he will not be listed, with a surname, in any census before 1870. He may be listed, given name only, in the 1850 or 1860 Slavery Schedules.
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My apology, I am in bed not feeling well and apparently confused. Oops.... I was thinking about other family members from Halifax, VA. Nonetheless. Richard Chisholm and his family were free people of color. You will see many of my relatives listed as either mulatto or, black (B) or neg aka negro. Being the case you will see them on the 1860 and 1850 census with all of their names listed, which is understood for them not being enslaved. They are also listed as Americans not African Americans (from Africa). In other words, my family was already hear on American soil before the colonial conquest. Moreover. Census records did not allow Native Americans were not listed as NA or I on census records.
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