Story County, Iowa 1880 Census

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Story County 1880 Census Records

The 1880 census is held on microfilm, Series T9, by the National Archives and Records Administration. The microfilm records for Story County, Iowa are located on reel 364 containing pages 210A through 270A, and reel 365 continuing with pages 271C through 398D. This is the tenth federal census and represents the third federal census enumerated for Story County after its formation. The effective date of the census was 01 Jun 1880. Errors may have been introduced by the census taker or during transcription. Click here to see the instructions that were given to the enumerators for this census.

The Internet Archive contains images of the 1880 census, available for downloading or viewing. Image quality varies.

Search results contain an abstract of the data for the individuals found. Views of the census pages, seen when selecting an individual in search results or when browsing the census, contain all of the census data found on that page. Some of the original census pages were written out of sequence. The sequence has been placed in correct order as you browse the census. As you view a transcribed census page, you can click on a link to view the Internet Archive image of that page in a new browser window.

Note that the Cannot Read and Cannot Write columns for Milford and Grant townships are not included in this transcription. The census taker attempted to indicate who could read or write rather than who could not. This made it difficult to transcribe accurately. The image may be consulted to make your own determination.

The 1880 Census data is comprised of:

Page Number. Shown at the top of each census page view, this is the page number within the census book. The numbering convention is 100A, 100B, 101C, 101D, 102A, etc. For Story County, the page numbers run from 210A through 398D. Occasionally the pages are bound out of order. They are rearranged here in the correct order.
Enumerator Page Number. Shown at the top of each census page view, this is the census page number for the enumerator. This number restarts at 1 for each enumerator.
Supervisor's District Number. Shown at the top of each census page view, the supervisor's district number is 4 for all of the Story County census.
Enumeration District Number. Shown at the top of each census page view, the enumeration district numbers change with each district within Story County. For Story County, they run from 198 through 212.
Location. Shown at the top of each census page view. These primarily correspond to each enumeration district, although occasionally extra information is added in the transcription, such as a town within a district.
Enumerator's Name. Shown at the top of each census page view.
Date of Enumeration. This is the date the information was collected. Shown at the top of each census page view. Sometimes one page was enumerated across multiple days.
Line Number. Line number within the page.
Dwelling Number Numbered within each census location.
Family Number. Numbered within each census location.
Name. I have separated the surname from the given names so the surname can be used for searching.
Street & No. Within cities may show the street name and house number.
Color.
Sex.
Age.
Relationship to Head of Family. Wife, son, daughter, etc. For the head of family this field is left empty.
Single.
Married.
Widowed or Divorced.
Married Within Year. Indicator that the person was married that year.
Occupation..
Number of Months Unemployed in Current Year. When present, this information is listed under the title "Various" on the census page view (not on surname search results)
Blind. When present, this information is listed under the title "Various" on the census page view (not on surname search results)
Deaf and Dumb. When present, this information is listed under the title "Various" on the census page view (not on surname search results)
Idiotic. When present, this information is listed under the title "Various" on the census page view (not on surname search results)
Insane. When present, this information is listed under the title "Various" on the census page view (not on surname search results)
Disabled. Maimed, crippled, bed-ridden or otherwise disabled. When present, this information is listed under the title "Various" on the census page view (not on surname search results)
Attended school within the current year. When present, this information is listed under the title "Various" on the census page view (not in surname search results)
Can not read. When present, this information is listed under the title "Various" on the census page view (not in surname search results) – Omitted for Milford and Grant townships
Can not write. When present, this information is listed under the title "Various" on the census page view (not in surname search results) – Omitted for Milford and Grant townships
Place of Birth. Place names are have been standardized (such as spelling out full state name instead of copy abbreviations) unless the name is ambiguous.
Father's Nativity. Place of birth of person's father.
Mother's Nativity. Place of birth of person't mother.

The following information is included in the transcription but is not taken directly from the census:

AKA Surname. This is believed to the correct surname based upon the transcriber or proofer's analysis. The intent is to increase the opportunities of finding somebody in a surname search even though their name may have been recorded incorrectly in the census.
AKA Source. The source of the AKA Source, such as 1885 Cen (for 1885 census) or even Ed Guess (for educated guess).
Transcriber comments. When present, this information is listed under the title "Various" on the census page view (not on surname search results).

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