Clover Family Research Compendium

Created, Edited, and Maintained

By June Clover Byrne

For the Clover Family Historical Society

Research Report on Clovers in the Federal Census 1790 through 1820

            The research on this page is adapted from an article researched, written, and published by June Clover Byrne in Volume 7 Issue 2/3 of the Clover Family Exchange, copyright 1998.

        Although early census records are an important part of the often scanty evidence we have of the early Clover families in America, such records have very obvious limitations. Many of the records which would show Clover families are missing in the early years. In New Jersey and Virginia, there are deed records to prove that Clover families were living there long before 1790. Tragically, the 1790 and 1800 censuses for these states did not survive. The 1810 and 1820 censuses for New Jersey are also missing. In those cases where the early censuses have actually survived, some Clover families were missed and some details are certainly inaccurate. Additional confusion has been generated by the indexing.

        I started this with an attempt to go through all indexes available for 1790 through 1820 and then actually extract the census information from the censuses. As I did this, I discovered, as we always do in genealogy, that nothing is ever quite that simple. I found that many of the entries listed as Clovers are in fact another name and that some of the entries which clearly say Clover probably are not Clovers at all. Then I found Clover entries which are not in the indexes.

        All of the censuses entries below have been carefully checked. I feel sure that there are additional Clovers out there who are not indexed, but this report includes all Clovers found in major indexes and those whom have been located the hard way. Some of those whom I have listed as Clovers may well not be, but the census clearly shows Clover and I could not find clear evidence that they are or are not. Further research is needed on those names.

        In 1907 and 1908, the United States Census Bureau published books of all existing 1790 censuses. All page numbers below refer to the pages in those books. The censuses themselves are available from the National Archives on a separate set of microfilms. I used the books for this report because I have those readily available and the indexes are for these books. However, I did later check them against the microfilm rolls to make sure the printed books were correct.

The 1790 censuses for Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Virginia did not survive. Notation was: 

/Free white males over 16/under 16//free white females//other free persons//slaves//

Note that 1800 Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Virginia did not survive. Notation was: //males under 10/males 10-16/ males 16-26/ males 26-45/ males over 45// females same five categories//all other free persons//slaves//.

All page numbers refer to actual censuses on National Archives Microfilms.

*Note: James is sometimes listed as a Junior in indexes but this is an error. There is a Jo-smudge before his name which probably was a mistake. It looks like the census taker started to write John and then smudged it because the man's name was actually James. In this census jun is written after the names to designate Junior. This format appears several times on the same page.

** Note: At the time this was published in 1998, I had not found this John Clover because he was not in any available indexes.  This entry was located through the tireless paging of censuses by Emily Jean Nix.

1810 Census

The 1810 census for Georgia, New Jersey, and Ohio did not survive. Notation was same as for 1800.

The page numbers refer to the actual census on National Archives Microfilms.

*At the time I originally published these census extracts in 1998, these Greene County, New York Clovers were not in any index that I had seen.  They were found by the tireless paging of censuses by Emily Jean Nix.

**Terry Clover suggested that this is probably the Jacob Clover of Monroe Co, IL in 1920. It appears likely to be him.  I have not found any Glovers in this area.  It is a common type of error. 

***Note: In the printed version of the census, William Clover does not have the male under 10. This mark was probably missed because it is partially covered by the paper which was glued on for the next page.

1820  Census

Note that the 1820 census for both New Jersey and Franklin County, Ohio did not survive. This is unfortunate because both would have had Clovers.

Names are listed alphabetically by state. All page numbers refer to the actual census. Notation: //Free white males under 10/10-16/16-18/16-26/26-45/45 and over//Free white females under 10/10- 16/16-25/26-45/45 and over//Foreigners not naturalized/agriculture/ commerce/ manufacture// free colored in brackets // slaves in brackets //.

*Jacob is listed on page 77 of Monroe County, Illinois in some indexes. This is an error. Page 77 is not in Monroe County and does not have a Jacob Clover on it.

**John Clover is living next door to Collins Clover.

***Concordia Parish included the southern part of what would become Madison Parish. 

1820 Census "Free Colored"

• Clover, ----- Baltimore Co, MD, p 406, 10th Ward(Free Colored): 1 M 14-26, 1 F under 13 , 1 F 14-21, 1 F over 45.  This person has no first name listed. The census taker did not list the first names in black families.

• Plim Clover Philadelphia, PA, p 63, Locust Twp(Free Colored)(NARA Roll 108): 1 M 14-26, 1 M over 45, 1 F under 14, 1 F over 45.

        This page is dedicated to Emily Jean Nix. She was born 15 August 1934, and died 8 June 2005, in Carson City, Nevada.  She was descended from John W. and Collins Clover, two sons of John Clover of Connecticut and New York.  She was a wonderful help to me in the research of these families.  She was a long time subscriber, a tireless researcher, a constant support, and a good friend to me, and to other New York researchers.  She is greatly missed.

Copyright 2002 June Clover Byrne 

Contact me at Junebyr@yahoo.com

Last Updated 3 October 2009