Story County, Iowa
1860 Federal Census

The census has been abstracted from microfilm. This is the first federal census for Story County which had not yet been formed in 1850. These were frontier days yet for the marshes and prairies of Story County. The effective date of the census was 01 Jun 1860. Errors may have been introduced by the census taker or by my transcription.

The 1860 Census data is comprised of:

• Page Number. The pages were numbered within the county.
• Location. The following townships had not yet been formed in 1860:

  Township	Later Formed From:
  Grant	West 1/2 of Washington Twp, East 1/2 of Nevada Twp
  Lincoln	Northeast part of Nevada Twp
  Richland	Nevada Twp (and Sherman Twp which was formed from Nevada Twp after 1860)
  Sherman	Nevada Twp
  Warren	Howard Twp and Nevada Twp (actually Lincoln Twp but it was part of Nevada Twp in 1860)

• Post Office
• Enumerator's Name. The enumerator is not listed in the transcribed data. The entire 1860 Story County census was enumerated by S.S. Webb, assistant Marshall and certified 14 Aug 1860 before E. Schoonover, J.P.
• Date of Enumeration. This is the date the information was collected. The date has been reformatted to the form "dd mmm yyyy."
• Dwelling Number
• Family Number
• Name. I have separated the surname from the given names so the surname can be used for searching.
• Age
• Sex
• Color. Color is not listed in the transcribed data. All enumerated in 1860 were white.
• Township or Town
• Profession, trade or occupation
• Value of Real Estate. When present, this information is listed under the title "Various" in the transcribed data.
• Value of Personal Property. When present, this information is listed under the title "Various" in the transcribed data.
• 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.
• Whether married within the year. The year should be 01 Jun 1879 to 31 May 1880. When present, this information is listed under the title "Various" in the transcribed data.
• Whether attended school within the year. When present, this information is listed under the title "Various" in the transcribed data.
• Whether a person over 20 years of age who cannot read & write. When present, this information is listed under the title "Various" in the transcribed data.
• Whether deaf and dumb, blind, insane, idiotic, pauper, or convict. When present, this information is listed under the title "Various" in the transcribed data.

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

• AKA. This is a name that the person was also known as. Often this results from the census enumerator incorrectly recording the surname. No attempt was made to correct this. However, where the surname seems to be incorrect or may known to be changed at a later time, the alternative surname is included in the AKA field. When present, the AKA is shown directly after the recorded surname.
• AKA Source. When an AKA is given, this is the source for that surname. It is shown is parenthesis under the AKA name. The meaning of the sources listed in the transcribed data are given here:

  1856 CEN

  1856 Story County, Iowa Census

  Alt Read

  Sometimes a name can be read more than one way. This is a possible alternative reading of the surname.

  Cem Rec

  Family names on grave markers. See the excellent publications "Story County Grave Marker Inscriptions" which are for sale by the Iowa Genealogical Society

  Ed Guess

  My educated guess based upon knowledge of Story County family names. Take it for what it is worth!

  Mar Rec

  Story County marriage records.

  W.G. Allen

  "History of Story County" by W.G. Allen published 1887.

• Transcriber comments. When present, this information is listed under the title "Various" in the transcribed data.

[Search Story Co. 1860 Census Records][Story Co. Home Page]

Please E-Mail Mark Christian with your questions, comments, or suggestions.