Political Intrigue and the Census of 1890

I came face to face with a major brick wall when researching my ancestry. The population enumeration every ten years had met a serious blow when most of the 1890 census records were destroyed in a Washington DC fire in the basement of The Commerce Building, in 1921.

Whatever remained of the eleventh census of the United States was ordered by congress to be destroyed in 1933. Only a few fragments of the census escaped destruction and have been published in numerous genealogical websites. The resulting enumeration presents only about 6,000 of the 63,000,000 citizens polled at the time.

Nevertheless, according to the http://www.archives.gov website, “the 1890 census seemed mired in fraud and political intrigue.” In March 1896, a previous fire had destroyed the special census schedules for mortality, crime, pauperism and benevolence, special classes, and portions of the transportation and insurance schedules. In 1903, a census clerk noted that the general census schedules appeared to be in good condition. Despite numerous requests that the census records be stored in a safe place, they remained in the basement of The Commerce Building. The fire of 1921 destroyed 25% of the schedules and badly damaged half of the remainder. No effort was made to preserve the copies.

It was a heartbreaking nightmare for historians and genealogists. Even after a public outcry from historical organizations and genealogical societies, the government ordered the records destroyed. The entire story can be read at: http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1996/spring/1890-census-1.html