In this year of census reports, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced the release of the 1880 U.S. Census on CD-ROM, a move being heralded for its "far-reaching impact."
"Because the 1890 Census was destroyed by fire, there is no other federal source like this for 20 years," said David E. Rencher, director of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. "It makes the 1880 Census of tremendous value."
The database is the culmination of 17 years and 11.5 million hours of work and fills 56 CDs.
So many Americans were "on the move" in the late 19th century that tracking them down has been a major headache for researchers. Now historians can quickly search 50,475,336 inhabitants of the 38 United States and eight territories by entering a name.
In 1880, "census enumerators" canvassed the inner-cities, outposts and even the frontiers of the country diligently recording vital information in pencil on thousands of enumerator sheets. To ensure the integrity of that research, the church enlisted the help of the Minnesota Population Center of the University of Minnesota in the project.
The resulting 56 CDs can be used at most the church's 3,500 family-history centers, or they can be purchased for $49 on www.familysearch.org.