Census Materials

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The United States Constitution requires the government to take a complete census of the population Every ten years. At different times, different material has been gathered. Material is sealed for a number of years--the 1930 census material has just become available.

Figuring out census records is one of the most confusing parts of genealogical research. Most material is microfilmed, and local libraries often only keep those microfilms related to their area. There are several places in the nation where a complete set of the records that survive (most of the 1890 census was destroyed in a fire in 1921)--the National Archives in Washington, D.C. (which has a branch in San Bruno, CA, a ten minute drive from San Francisco) and the Archives of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) in Utah are the foremost depositories. Furthermore, the Mormon Church has local reading rooms throughout the country which can get access to particular records.

If you want to do serious census research, you need to read up on it. The best place to get started for free is the U.S. GenWeb site at Rootsweb.com. "http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/" I haven't included a link because clicking on that link will take you from this site in a way that is not easy to backtrack.

You can't just decide to find someone named "Kellogg" in Red River Parish in 1920, for instance. You have to also have access to an index of names for the period, and a lot of perseverance. The reason is that a lot of mistakes have been made in transcribing records, so "Totsy Franklin Kellogg" might show up as "T.T. Kellogg", with an "F" confused with a "T".

Increasingly, the best and easiest source for census records is Ancestry.com It's not cheap--an annual subscription can run to $200 or so, but there are frequent sales, and quarterly membership rates. But with your membership, you can access most of the actual census images on-line and save them. That's the source for many of the census images I've included here.

I have included some of the documents listed below, but space limitations for free web pages has meant I can't make them all directly available to everyone, but must instead give you a basic description of them. If you need a copy of the census materials, please write to me direct at keller.bird@comcast.net

  • Blank Census Abstract Forms for various years. These are forms that show the differences between the various census items, and can be used to record information you find. You download them for free at Latter Day Saints site.

  • The 1830 Wayne County, TN census reflects the origin of Samuel Hiram Kellogg, Sr. It has been transcribed, and the notations as to Hiram Kellogg are contained on page 309, showing there was one white male under five years old (Samuel Hiram, Sr.), one white male between 20 and 30, two white females under five years of age, two white females between 20 and 30, with one black slave. You can view the transcription at Wayne Co., TN 1830 Transcript As of early 2003, Ancestry.com doesn't have the census image for that page of the census on which the Kelloggs are listed.

  • The 1840 Louisiana Census shows Titus Kellogg in "Claiborne" Parish (before Bossier Parish was created. No other Kelloggs show in the 1840 or 1850 Census for Louisiana, except in New Orleans. Portions of the 1850 Census for New Orleans, a two page document, shows "Andrew Kellogg" in Charity Hospital (I haven't a clue who he might be) and C.A. Kellogg, who is Titus and Lucy's son.

  • Samuel Hiram Kellogg also shows in the 1840 Alabama Census and the 1860 Mississippi Census, but I don't have good copies of those documents and can't guarantee they refer to our relatives.

  • A number of the following census files relating to Totsy's cousins wouldn't be particularly interesting except that they confirm the handwritten notations in the Coushatta Bible. Check out more detailed comments at Coushatta Family Bible

  • The 1880 Red River census, showing several members of the Hunter Family and Samuel Kellogg, age 21, who was living with them. Another portion of thate census shows members of the Elliott family.

  • The 1920 Vernon Parish census shows Totsy, Meroe, Elouise, and Totsy's brother Clyde, with two other apparent borders.

  • The 1930 Beauregard Parish census shows Totsy's brother Roy, his wife Tura, and their children Wilmott and Mary.

  • There are several relevant pages in the 1930 Red River Parish Census. One shows Louvicy Frances Kellogg, wife of James Richard "Dick" Kellogg's brother Samuel, Jr. She also has several others living with her, including Ada and Mary Athelene Kellogg, the widow of her son Basil Hiram and her daughter.

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