Explanation of Terms and Fields in the 1870 and 1910 Population Census
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The 1870 and 1910 censuses for Charlottesville and Esmont, Virginia were drawn from microfilms of the originals. Because Esmont did not exist as a distinct area in 1870 or 1910, decisions on which pages to include were made based on post office and district information. More information on these decisions can be found below with the explanations for each census year.
Please note, the order in which the data appears in the searches and results has been changed from the original. In addition, the results also do not appear in the same order as they appeared on the original census page. There are three options for displaying the results - alphabetically by last and first name, grouped by families, and grouped by location.
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| Fields in the 1870 Census
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Fields in the 1910 Census
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The 1870 Population Census
The manuscript schedule of the Population Census is the official form on which census-takers recorded the data they collected in the field. Each page of the census lists the names of up to forty individuals and contains demographic information on each person in categories such as "color", birthplace, and personal wealth. The census was transcribed from microfilms of the original census into a searchable database. Charlottesville entries come from the entries with the post office of Charlottesville. Esmont did not exist as a distinct area in 1870. Pages with the post office of Scottsville and the district of St. Ann's Parish have been designated Esmont for the purposes of this search. Unless otherwise indicated by the Race and Place Staff, census fields have been transcribed exactly as written.
Search the 1870 Census
Fields
| Personal Information |
| Last Name | The individual's last name. |
| First Name | The individual's first name. |
| Age | The individual's age. The census-taker asked "age at last birthday. If younger than one year, give months in fractions." For searching purposes, the ages of infants under the age of 1 are listed as decimals. See our Guide to Converting Infant Ages. |
| Sex | The individual's sex. On the census these are listed as "M" or "F". Here we have expanded the entry to "Male" or "Female". |
| Color | In 1870 the federal government recognized five "colors" to which individuals belonged: "black", "white", "mulatto", "chinese", and "indian". Census-takers assigned and recorded each individual's color by noting the letter "W", "B", or "M", etc. Here we have expanded the entry to "White", "Black", "Mulatto", etc. |
| Order in Household | Within each household, the place in which the individual was recorded on the census. Usually the husband (and father) was listed first, the wife (and mother) second, and the children follow in order of birth. This field is generated by Race and Place staff while transcribing each record and does not appear on the original census page. |
| Birth and Parentage Information |
| Birth Place | Place where the individual was born. |
| Father of Foreign Birth | Indicates whether the individual's father was born outside the United States. |
| Mother of Foreign Birth | Indicates whether the individual's mother was born outside the United States. |
| Employment Information |
| Occupation | On the census, this category is described as follows: "Profession, occupation, or trade of each person, male or female". To view the full list of occupations found in the census, see the List of Occupations or the link below the "occupation" field on the search page. |
| Financial Information |
| Real Estate Value | Monetary value of individual's real estate property including land, farms, buildings, and houses. Generally, real estate value is listed only for the family head, although not all household heads owned real estate and occasionally other family members are listed as owning real estate as well. |
| Personal Estate Value | Monetary value of individual's non-land property such as household goods, furnishings, and livestock. Generally, personal estate value is listed only for the family head, although not all household heads owned personal estate and occasionally other family members are listed as owning personal estate as well. |
| Education Information |
| Attended School in Previous Year | Indicates whether the individual had attended school in the past year. |
| Cannot Read | Indicates whether the individual cannot read. |
| Cannot Write | Indicates whether the individual cannot write. |
| Record-Keeping / Legal Information |
| Month of Marriage if Married in Previous Year | Lists the month in which the individual was married. |
| Month of Birth if Born in Previous Year | Lists the month in which the individual was born. |
| Deaf, Dumb, Blind, Insane | This category lists whether the individual was "deaf, dumb, blind, insane". |
| Male Over 21 | Indicates whether the individual was over the age of 21 (and therefore old enough to vote). |
| Male Denied Right to Vote | Indicates whether the individual was denied the right to vote. |
| Census Tracking Information |
| County | The county in which the individual lived as of June 1, 1870. |
| District | The district or parish (within the county) in which the individual lived as of June 1, 1870. |
| Post Office | The post office from which the individual received their mail as of June 1, 1870. |
| Dwelling Number | The number assigned by the census-taker to the house in which the individual lived as of June 1, 1870. Each census-taker would assign the number "1" to the first household they visited, "2" to the second, etc. |
| Family Number | The number assigned by the census-taker to the family to which the individual belonged. Census-takers would assign the number "1" to the first family they visited, "2" to the second, etc. |
| Page Number | Within the census, the page number on which the individual is listed. |
| Notes | Any additional information or comments related to the individual. This information may have been noted in the census itself or added by Race and Place staff. |
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The 1910 Population Census
The manuscript schedule of the Population Census is the official form on which census-takers recorded the data they collected in the field. Each page of the census lists the names of up to forty individuals and contains demographic information on each person in categories such as "color", birthplace, and personal wealth. The census was transcribed from microfilms of the original census into a searchable database. Charlottesville entries are those from the Charlottesville District, and Esmont entries are from the Scottsville District. Unless otherwise indicated, census fields have been transcribed exactly as written.
Search the 1910 Census
Fields
| Personal Information |
| Last Name | The individual's last name. |
| First Name | The individual's first name. |
| Age | The individual's age. The census-taker asked "age at last birthday. If younger than one year, give months in fractions." For searching purposes, the ages of infants under the age of 1 are listed as decimals. See our Guide to Converting Infant Ages. |
| Sex | The individual's sex. On the census these are listed as "M" or "F". Here we have expanded the entry to "Male" or "Female". |
| Color or Race | Census-takers assigned and recorded a 'color' to each individual based on the person's appearance. The categories census-takers used were 'B' (for black), 'W' (for white), 'Mu' (for mulatto), and 'C' (for Chinese). Here we have expanded the entries to 'black,', 'white,', 'mulatto,' and 'chinese'. |
| Relation to Head of Family | In the census, this category asks for the "relationship of this person to the head of the family." This category describes kin (e.g., wife, grandson, step daughter in law) or business (e.g., lodger, houseboy, cook) relations between the resident and the head of the household. |
| Marital Status | In the census, this column asks "whether [the individual is] single, married, widowed, or divorced." Marital Status is listed on the page as "S", "M", "M2", etc. These have been expanded to "Single", "Married", "Married Second", etc. |
| Years Married | In the census, this column askes "number of years in present marriage." When the number was given as a fraction, it was replaces with a decimal value. |
| Number of Children Born | The number of children born to each mother. |
| Number of Children Living | The number of children still living for each mother. |
| Birth Place |
| Birth Place | Place where the individual was born. |
| Father's Birth Place | Place where the individual's father was born. |
| Mother's Birth Place | Place where the individual's mother was born. |
| Year of Immigration | Year when the individual immigrated (if they did not immigrate, this column is left blank). |
| Immigration Status | In the census, this column asks "whether naturalized or alien." If applicable, these were listed as "Na" or "Al." Here we have expanded these to "Naturalized" or "Alien." |
| Language Spoken | In the census, this column asks "whether [the individual is] able to speak English, or, if not, give language spoken." |
| Employment Information |
| Occupation and Nature of Industry | In the census, this column asks for "trade or professions, or by particular kind of work done by this person, as spinner, salesman, laborer, etc." and "general nature of industry, business or establkishment in which this person works, as cotton mill, dry goods store, farm, etc." |
| Work Status | In the census, this column asks "whether [the individual is] an employer, employee, or working on own account." The census-taker noted the answer as "E", "W", or "OA". Here we have expanded these to "Employer", "Working", and "Own Account." |
| Unemployed on April 15, 1910 | In the census, this column asks "if employed, whether out of work on April 15, 1910." |
| Number of Weeks Unemployed in Past Year | In the census, this column asks "if employed, number of weeks out of work during 1909." |
| Education Information |
| Can Read | "Yes" indicates that the individual could read, "No" indicates that the individual could not read. |
| Can Write | "Yes" indicates that the individual could write, "No" indicates that the individual could not write. |
| Attended School in Past Year | Whether or not the individual had attended school at any time since September 1, 1909. |
| Housing Information |
| Own Or Rent | Whether the head of family owned ("O") or rented ("R") their home. |
| If Own, Free Or Mortgaged | If the head of the family owned their home, whether it was free ("F") or mortgaged ("M"). |
| Farm or House | If the head of the family owned or rented a farm ("F") or a house ("H"). |
| If Farm, Farm Schedule Number | If a farm, the number assigned by the census-taker to it. Each census-taker would assign the number '1' to the first farm, '2' to the second, etc. |
| Miscellaneous Information |
| Survivor of the Civil War | In the census, this column asks "whether [the individual is] a survivor of the Union or Confederate Army or Navy." The answer was indicated by CA (Confederate Army) or UA (Union Army). |
| Blind | Whether the individual was blind in both eyes (indicated by "Bl"). |
| Deaf and Dumb | Whether the individual was deaf and dumb (indicated by "DD"). |
| Notes | Any additional information or comments related to the individual. This information may have been noted in the census itself (by the census-taker) or added by Race and Place staff. |
| Census Page Information |
| House Number | The house number listed on the top of each census page. This was not uniformly used by the census-takers. |
| Dwelling Number | The number assigned by the census-taker to the dwelling in which the individual lived. Each census-taker would assign the number '1' to the first dwelling they visited, '2' to the second, etc. |
| Family Number | The number assigned by the census-taker to the family to which the individual belonged. Each census-taker would assign the number '1' to the first dwelling they visited, '2' to the second, etc. |
| District | The district (or parish) within the county in which the individual lived. |
| Ward | If recording a city, the city ward in which the individual lived. Here, 'ward' is noted for residents of Charlottesville, but not for those living in Esmont. |
| Neighborhood and Street | The neighborhood and street in which the individual lived. |
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