CENSUS INFORMATION
New Jersey became a state in 1787. The census began in 1790
and there is ongoing debate as to whether or not the 1790 census
for New Jersey was burned. According to Kathleen W. Hinckley's
publication, Your Guide to the Federal Census for genealogists,
researchers, and family historians, Kathleen states, on page
112, as follows:
"MISSING OR LOST SCHEDULES
There is conflicting information regarding the loss of 1790
schedules for Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, Tennessee,
and Virginia. Most genealogical reference books report that these
schedules were destroyed when the British burned the Capitol
during the War of 1812. This is disputed in the 1909 publication
A Century of Population Growth From the First Census of the
United States to the Twelfth 1790-1900 (page 49):
There is a record that the 1790 returns for
Virginia were destroyed when the British burned the Capital at
Wasdhington during the War of 1812. But it is a question whether
anything more than the marshal's summary was burned, if the First
Census law was complied with, the original returns must have
been in the custody of the clerk of the distrcit court of Virginia.
If this was true for Virginia, it was most likely the same
for the other five states.
Consequently, New Jersey's census ostensibly began in 1790,
but the 1790 through 1820 are missing or lost, except for the
1800 Cumberland County schedules. The below link will take you
to the New Jersey census table at Rootsweb. Most of the rolls
of film for the various counties still need transcribing for
the Census Project. If you are interested in helping the Census
Project, please be sure to check out the information available
at the site below to volunteer. We always need more of your valuable
assistance. Thank you.
USGenWeb
Census Project at Rootsweb - New Jersey
The National Archives Record Administration has assigned numbers
to the different rolls of census microfilm. They are as follows:
