The 1870 U.S. Census is a milestone for many family historians. For those tracing African American ancestry, it often marks the very first time their ancestors appear in a public federal record by name. The names are handwritten clearly on the page—no longer separated, omitted, or counted as property. For the first time, individuals who were born into slavery are seen on equal footing with every other American, listed not as someone’s possession but as someone’s parent, spouse, child, worker, or head of household.

But the moment of discovery in 1870 almost always leads to a question: What about before? How do I find my ancestors in the years before emancipation? Who were they, and where were they living before the war?

Finding those answers requires patience and care—but the records are out there. The 1870 census is often the starting place for a powerful journey backward through time. The steps that follow can help you begin piecing that story together.

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The 1870 U.S. Census might be one of the most meaningful records ever created in the history of the country. For the first time, every person—Black, white, free-born, formerly enslaved, immigrant, farmer, child, war widow—was recorded by name on the main schedule. No longer confined to tally marks or separated into slave schedules, formerly enslaved individuals finally had their names written down as citizens.

This was the country’s first full census after the Civil War. Reconstruction was underway, freedmen’s schools and churches were forming, and the railroad was pushing west. The country was healing in some ways and breaking in others. But the names were there now, and for family historians, that changed everything.

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As we continue through our The Forgotten Seconds series—exploring the lives of vice presidents who never became president—we now turn to one of the most unusual figures ever to hold the office. Richard Mentor Johnson, a frontier-born politician from Kentucky, lived a life of contradictions. Celebrated as a hero of the War of 1812 and known for his plain appeal to common voters, he was also scorned by many in his party for his controversial personal life and lack of discipline while in office. Though he rose to the second-highest post in the nation, Johnson never reached the presidency, and his legacy has largely faded from memory. His story begins on the western edge of Virginia and ends in political obscurity—but in between, it reveals a great deal about early American identity, race, class, and politics...

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Daniel D. Tompkins was born on June 21, 1774, in the town of Scarsdale in Westchester County, New York. He came into a world still under British rule, just two years before the colonies would declare their independence. His family roots traced back to England, where the name Tompkins derived from a form of “Little Thomas’s son,” a patronymic surname that can be found as far back as the 1300s in Kent. The Tompkins family likely came to the American colonies in the mid-1600s during the great wave of English migration to the New World.

His father, Jonathan Griffin Tompkins, born in 1729, was a well-respected local figure—a farmer, a judge, and a supporter of the patriot cause. He played a civic role in the Scarsdale community during and after the Revolutionary War. His mother, Sarah Ann Hyatt, came from the Hyatt family of New York. The Hyatts, like the Tompkins family, had early English roots, with possible Dutch ancestry in some branches, common in the Hudson River Valley. The Hyatt and Tompkins lines came together in a home that valued faith, education, and public service...

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The 1860 U.S. Census might be one of the most emotionally charged documents in early American history. On the surface, it looks similar to 1850—names, ages, occupations, birthplaces, property values. But just beneath that is a country on the brink of war. It was taken in a moment when the United States was technically still whole, but very much coming apart.

If you’re researching ancestors during this time, the 1860 census offers a powerful glimpse into their world—whether they were preparing for conflict, trying to make a living, enslaved, recently freed, or pushing west toward opportunity. It’s a document shaped by growing tensions, but also filled with the quiet rhythms of daily life.

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By the time the 1850 U.S. Census was taken, the United States was no longer a slow-growing collection of coastal settlements. It was a booming, restless, coast-to-coast land of contradictions. The population had reached over 23 million people. The western frontier had stretched all the way to California. Cities were growing fast, but most people still lived on farms. The railroad and steamboat had made the country feel smaller, even as it grew larger. And in the background, tension over slavery and statehood was rising like a tide that couldn’t be turned back.

Amid all this change, the federal government made one small but radical adjustment to the census: it began listing the names of every free person in the household. For family historians, it’s the moment where the lights come on.

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The 1840 U.S. Census might be the most overlooked turning point in early American recordkeeping. On the surface, it still looks like the older ones—just one name listed, a page full of tick marks, and plenty of room for guesswork. But this was a census taken on the edge of transformation. The United States was about to change fast. Railroads were spreading. The telegraph was just a few years away. Families were scattering across the continent. And yet, there was still one more census to be taken the old way—by head of household, with ages in neat little boxes.

If you’re working with ancestors in the 1840s, this census may be the last breadcrumb before the trail suddenly gets clearer in 1850. But even though the names are still missing for most people, the 1840 census hides some of the best leads in early American research—especially if you take your time with it.

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By 1830, the United States had reached a new kind of maturity. The Revolution was no longer in living memory for some—though a surprising number of veterans were still alive and tucked into households across the country. Andrew Jackson was president, the Erie Canal had transformed trade in the North, and the South was leaning heavily on slavery and cotton. The country was bigger, louder, more divided, and more connected than ever before.

And right in the middle of all that, the federal government rolled out its fifth census. This one looked a little closer. It counted a little smarter. And for those of us digging into family history, it quietly handed us some of the most useful clues of the early census years.

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The 1820 U.S. Census rolled out during what historians often call the "Era of Good Feelings"—a peaceful name for a time that was anything but simple. The War of 1812 had ended just a few years earlier. James Monroe was president, and the country was pushing its borders westward at full speed. Tensions over slavery, expansion, and power were beginning to heat up, even though the surface looked calm.

The 1820 census is a small turning point for those tracing family histories. It’s still far from perfect—only the head of household is named—but it gives us more than the earlier counts. And if you know how to read between the lines and pair it with other records, it can open up many doors...

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In 1810, the United States was only 34 years into its existence as a nation and was still figuring things out—including how to count its people. That year marked just the third official census, and while the goal was simple on paper—get a headcount of everyone in the country—the results were far from perfect.

If you’ve ever looked through the 1810 census while researching your family, you know it’s not exactly a goldmine. Entire areas are missing. Everyone in the household except the head is just a number. It’s more frustrating than helpful sometimes. But understanding what was going on in the country at the time gives you a better sense of why it turned out the way it did—and what you can still pull from it...

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