1850 Public Use Microdata Sample User's Guide and Technical Documentation
User's Guide
Page 25
New England states and Southern states presented specific problems in designating incorporated places . Few places in New England were incorporated in 1850 . In these states, the town was typically the smallest form of government organization. equivalent to "township" in most other parts of the country) . all residents of New England states . dealing with Southern cities .
("Town" in New England was the
As a result, town population is used for
The poor quality of census returns was particularly troubling in
The 1850 published materials note that "the returns for Southern States,
except Arkansas, do not show any complete system of subdivision of counties" (U .S . Census Office, 1853, p. 1015) .
Southern cities were listed instead in a separate table, but the tables noted only those
cities and towns that Census officials could "ascertain from the schedules," and hence are not a complete listing of all incorporated places . Augusta, Georgia, for example, was enumerated with a population of 11,753 in a local census in 1852, but officials in 1850 could not determine the boundaries of the municipality in the national census, and the city was not assigned a population total in the published returns.
Assigning total city populations in the South was also complicated by slavery.
Slaves were
enumerated in a separate schedule in 1850, but the slave population was included in the published returns and we have included the figures in assigning population totals for Southern cities .
Two
problems with the slave population, however, should be noted . First, in some cases, slaves were not recorded at all. Yorkville, South Carolina, for example, has no slave population; the figures therefore reflect the white and free black populations.
Second, slave population figures were
sometimes listed in the published returns, but they were not included in the aggregate population totals for the municipality in question. The returns for Charlottesville, Virginia, for instance, list 840 slaves in the city, but this number was not added to the white and free black population totals . According to the published returns, because towns were not separated on the slave schedules, "the numbers in the slave columns . . . were collected from the returns with great labor, and include often, unavoidably, slaves owned, but not living, in the town .
The aggregates, being uncertain, are
omitted" (U .S . Census Office, 1853, p. 258) . We have not omitted the figures. For cities where any slave populations were listed, we added them to the total population of the city . In general, anyone using data concerning southern cities should consult the published materials to differentiate the accuracy of the numbers in question . Place of Birth . Marshals were instructed to obtain information on the country of birth for each individual . These data can be used to study migration by individuals . In almost every case the birthplace of the individual was recorded by the marshals . Birthplaces are coded according to the IPUMS system to ensure compatibility across all census years . Enumeration instructions for 1850 were very general, requiring only country, or U .S . state or territory of origin .
While interpretation of the place of birth variable is generally straightforward,
two complications should be mentioned.
Users should be aware that some persons born in the
Southwest, which later became part of the United States, often listed their place of birth as Mexico . In addition, the code "Indian Territory" refers specifically to the eastern half of Oklahoma .
Other
Native American birthplaces were enumerated either as a specific tribe, the Choctaw Nation for example, or as Native American.