Every ten years, the United States government performs a census of the country. During 1860 and 1870 information for the census was gathered by census takers who visited every house in their district. They asked each head of every household a series of questions about everyone who lived there such as their age, race, wealth, occupation, literacy, physical condition, and birthplace. We have transcribed the 1860 and 1870 U.S. Census for Augusta County, VA and Franklin County, PA.

In addition to the better-known population census we also have transcribed the Agriculture, Manufacturing, and Slaveowner Census. Augusta County in the late 1850s was very much a slave society. So important was slavery that the census takers maintained a separate book to list all the slaveowners and their property. Chillingly enough, the census takers were not interested in the names of individual slaves but only in their age, sex, and skin shade. The slaveowner census records show that a large number of slaves in Staunton were hired out by people other than their owners.