Census Introduction

This census compilation has the federal census of 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900 and the state census of 1856, 1885, 1895 for Taylor County, Iowa. They are recorded by townships for each year as enumerated by the census taker and also in one composite alphabetical listing.

The mortality schedule data has been added back into the individual families as carefully as possible. Because the census numbers were changed several times, the household numbers do not always match and some were impossible to ascertain which family they belong to.
 

If you have looked at original census records, you are aware that there were several basic
traits of census takers. Some of them had penmanship, some didn't; some could spell, some
couldn't; some saved thousands of tax payer dollars by using no ink, some made ink blobs
all over the page; some obviously were paying more attention to discussing the weather
than what they were doing. And then you have the various combinations of all these traits. Census records are only clues. What he thought he heard, and what he wrote down, and
what I thought I saw that he had written down, and therefore what I typed....you must look
at the originals for yourself. NEVER leave it at accepting what I or anyone else has
interpreted.

Many of these census originals are nearly impossible to read and on some pages I could not see anything at all. If you do not find your family, this may explain why. At the beginning of the composite list are some families with sketchy details and if you can identify them please let me know.

One particular advantage to publishing this on the internet is that it can be corrected and updated continually. If you find families that I have read the name incorrectly, please bring it to my attention.

There is also a fact that many people are not aware of. When the census was taken, three copies were made. These were handmade copies from the original one the census taker had gathered. One copy was for the county, one for the state, and one for the government. Because they could not all copy the same sheet at the same time, they rearranged the families as they were handed different sheets. The copy in the state is not the same as the federal copy most often on microfilm. I have used both and you will find family units on here that do not coincide with the federal microfilm: they may not have the same family number and may not have the same family members.

Certainly not all of the data on the census has been included! The purpose of this compilation is to locate families and I hope that you will ALWAYS look at the originals to gather all the facts.

Please excuse the form of this at present. It had very nice form on the word processor, but when it was put in html, it lost all tabs, etc. In time I may figure out how to rejuvenate it.

What you will find in this compilation:

 1850 has the basic information that all of them have in the surname, given name, age, sex, state born, year & household number
1856 also has a notation following such as "R2" which means how many years they have been a resident of the state of Iowa
1860 and 1870 have same thing as the 1850 census
1880 also has the state of birth for the person, their father and their mother
1885 gives the place of birth as a county if born in Iowa; this is noted by the county number - please consult the sources and abbreviation list (i.e. if born in Taylor county, it has birth as 87 which is the county number for Taylor county)
1895 also gives the county of birth in Iowa, plus it gives the regiment if a man were in the Civil War
1900 additionally gives the number of years marriaged (i.e. m/12 means married 12 years); number of children born to a woman and how many are living is giving as 5/5 or 10/8, etc.

The land entries recorded at Kanesville (Council Bluffs), Iowa 1853-1857 for Taylor county are also listed in this record. They give the man's name, date of entry, and number of acres. I have a copy of this book and if you would like to know the land description, please ask.

SOURCES & ABBREVIATIONS

01 Adair co, Ia

02 Adams co, Ia

03 Allamakee co, Ia

04 Appanoose co, Ia

05 Audubon co, Ia

06 Benton co, Ia

07 Black Hawk co, Ia

08 Boone co, Ia

09 Bremer co, Ia

10 Buchanan co, Ia

11 Buena Vista co, Ia

12 Butler co, Ia

13 Calhoun co, Ia

14 Carroll co, Ia

15 Cass co, Ia

16 Cedar co, Ia

17 Cerro Gordo co, Ia

18 Cherokee co, Ia

19 Chickasaw co, Ia

20 Clarke co, Ia

21 Clay co, Ia

22 Clayton co, Ia

23 Clinton co, Ia

 24 Crawford co, Ia

25 Dallas co, Ia

26 Davis co, Ia

27 Decatur co, Ia

28 Delaware co, Ia

29 Des Moines co, Ia

30 Dickinson co, Ia

31 Dubuque co, Ia

32 Emmet co, Ia

33 Fayette co, Ia

34 Floyd co, Ia

35 Franklin co, Ia

36 Fremont co, Ia

37 Greene co, Ia

38 Grundy co, Ia

39 Guthrie co, Ia

40 Hamilton co, Ia

41 Hancock co, Ia

42 Hardin co, Ia

43 Harrison co, Ia

44 Henry co, Ia

45 Howard co, Ia

46 Humboldt co, Ia

47 Ida co, Ia

48 Iowa co, Ia

49 Jackson co, Ia

50 Jasper co, Ia

51 Jefferson co, Ia

52 Johnson co, Ia

53 Jones co, Ia

54 Keokuk co, Ia

55 Kossuth co, Ia

56 Lee co, Ia

57 Linn co, Ia

58 Louisa co, Ia

59 Lucas co, Ia

60 Lyon co, Ia

61 Madison co, Ia

62 Mahaska co, Ia

63 Marion co, Ia

64 Marshall co, Ia

65 Mills co, Ia

66 Mitchell co, Ia

67 Monona co, Ia

68 Monroe co, Ia

69 Montgomery co, Ia

70 Muscatine co, Ia

71 O'Brien co, Ia

72 Osceola co, Ia

73 Page co, Ia

74 Palo Alto co, Ia

75 Plymouth co, Ia

76 Pocahontas co, Ia

77 Polk co, Ia

78 Pottawattamie co, Ia

79 Poweshiek co, Ia

80 Ringgold co, Ia

81 Sac co, Ia

82 Scott co, Ia

83 Shelby co, Ia

84 Sioux co, Ia

85 Story co, Ia

86 Tama co, Ia

87 Taylor co, Ia

88 Union co, Ia

89 Van Buren co, Ia

90 Wapello co, Ia
 

91 Warren co, Ia

92 Washington co, Ia

93 Wayne co, Ia

94 Webster co, Ia

95 Winnebago co, Ia

96 Winneshiek co, Ia

97 Woodbury co, Ia

98 Worth co, Ia

99 Wright co, Ia

A aunt

AdD adopted dau

AdS adopted son

Ak Alaska

Al Alabama

Ar Arkansas

art artist

As Australia

Ath Athelstan

Au Austria

Az Arizona

b black

ban banker

bap Baptist min

bar barber

BD Baden, Germany

Be Belgium

Bent Benton twp
 

Bfd Bedford

BI Bermuda Island

bk blank

Bkt Blockton

bli lime burner

bms brickmason

BNA British North America

BO Bohemia

brm brick maker

bro brother

bsm blacksmith

Buch Buchanan (Siam)

but butcher

BV Bavaria, Germany

c see

C cousin

Ca California

cab cabinet maker

Cfd Clearfield

cha chair maker

Clay Clayton twp

cld coal digger

clr clergyman

cmk chain maker

Cn Canada

Co Colorado

coa county auditor
 

cof county officer

con confectioner

Con Continent

coo cooper

cor county recorder

cot county treasurer

cpt carpenter

Cr Carolina

Ct Connecticut

Cu Cuba

Cwy Conway

Da Dakota

Dal Dallas twp

dau daughter

DC District of Columbia

De Delaware

den dentist

DG Darmstadt, Germany

dis disease

div divorced

DK Dakota Territory

dlm dealer in machinery

Dn Denmark

doc doctor

dre dress maker

drg druggist

En England

eng engineer

ET East Tennessee

Eu Europe

EV East Virginia

fam family

far farmer

fat father

Fl Florida

FL father in law

Fr France

Ga Georgia

gar gardner

Gay Gay twp

GM Gulf of Mexico

Gr Germany

Gran Grant twp

Grav Gravity

gro grocer

Grov Grove twp

gs grandson

gun gunsmith

hair hair dresser

har harness maker

HG Hanover, Germany

Ho Holland

Holt Holt twp

hot hotel keeper
 

huc huckster

hwd hardware merchant

Ia Iowa

Id Idaho

Il Illinois

IM Isle of Man

In Indiana

ins institute

IOM Isle of Malta

Ir Ireland

iro iron smith

ISH Isle of St Helena

It Italy

IW Isle of Wright

Jack Jackson twp

Jeff Jefferson twp

jew jeweler

joi joiner

Ks Kansas

Ky Kentucky

La Louisiana

lab laborer

law lawyer

LC Lower Cananda

lgt land agent

LI Long Island

liv livery
 

lum lumberman

Lx Lenox

m/- number of yrs married

Ma Massachusetts

mac machine dealer

mar married

Mars Marshall twp

Masn Mason twp

Md Maryland

Me Maine

Mem Memory

mer merchant

Mi Michigan

min minister

ML mother in law

mlc mail carrier

mln milliner

Mn Minnesota

mnr miner

Mo Missouri

Morm Mormantown

mot mother

Ms Mississippi

Mt Montana

mwr millwright

Mx Mexico

NC North Carolina

ND North Dakota

ne northeast

Ne Nebraska

nep nephew

NF Newfoundland

NH New Hampshire

nie niece

NJ New Jersey

NK New Brunswick

Nkt New Market

NM New Mexico

Noda Nodaway twp

NS Nova Scotia

Nv Nevada

Nw Norway

NY New York

Oc Ocean

ocu oculist

Oh Ohio

Ok Oklahoma

Or Oregon

orp orphan

Pa Pennsylvania

pai painter

ped pedlar

PE Prince Edward Island

pho photographer
 

pla plasterer

Plat Platte twp

Po Poland

Polk Polk twp

post postmaster

PR Porto Rica

pri printer

Ps Prussia

rea real estate agent

res restaurant

Ross Ross twp

rr railroad worker

s&b shoe & boot maker

sad saddler

sal salesman

saw saw miller

SC South Carolina

sd step dau

SD South Dakota

se southeast

sea seamstress

ser servant

sgl single

shf sheriff

sho shoemaker

SiL sister in law

SL son in law

smn stone mason

so southern

soo salloon keeper

ss step son

St Scotland

sta stage driver

std stock dealer

sur surveyor

Sw Sweden

Sx Saxony, Germany

Sz Switzerland

tay tayloress

tay tailor

tea school teacher

tem teamster

tin tinner

Tn Tennessee

tur turner

Tx Texas

UC Upper Canada

uk unknown

US United States

Ut Utah

Va Virginia

Vt Vermont

Wa Washington

wag wagon maker
 

Wash Washington twp

wat watch maker

wea weaver

wft works factory

WGr Wirtemburg, Germany

whe wheel wright

Wi Wisconsin

wid widow, widower

wid widow

Wl Wales

woo wool merchant

wsq works stone quarry

WT West Tennessee

WV West Virginia

Wy Wyoming

* means name may have

been determined from

other sources