Donley County Census Records 1920
Donley County Census Records Source: Ancestry.com
Donley County, Texas -
1920 United States Federal Census
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Description:
This database will detail those persons (heads of household)
enumerated in the 1920 United States Federal Census, the
Fourteenth Census of the United States.
The United States was the first country to call for a regularly
held census. The Constitution required that a census of all
"Persons..." be performed to determine the collection
of taxes and the appropriation of seats in the House of
Representatives.
The 1920 Census was begun on 1 January 1920. The following
questions were asked by enumerators: Name of street, avenue road,
etc.; house number or farm; number of dwelling in order of
visitation; number of family in order of visitation; name of each
person whose place of abode was with the family; relationship of
person enumerated to the head of the family; whether home owned
or rented; if owned, whether free or mortgaged; sex; color or
race; age at last birthday; whether single, married, widowed, or
divorced; year of immigration to United States; whether
naturalized or alien; if naturalized, year of naturalization;
whether attended school any time since 1 September 1919; whether
able to read; whether able to write; person's place of birth;
mother tongue; father's place of birth; father's mother tongue;
mother's place of birth; mother's mother tongue; whether able to
speak English; trade, profession, or particular kind of work
done; industry, business, or establishment in which at work;
whether employer, salary or wage worker, or working on own
account; number of farm schedule.
The date of the enumeration appears on the heading of each page
of the census schedule. All responses were to reflect the
individual's status as of 1 January 1920, even if the status had
changed between 1 January and the day of enumeration. Children
born between 1 January and the day of enumeration were not to be
listed, while individuals alive on 1 January but deceased when
the enumerator arrived were to be counted.
Unlike the 1910 census, the 1920 census did not have questions
regarding unemployment, Union or Confederate military service,
number of children, or duration of marriage. It did, however,
include four new question columns: one asked the year of
naturalization and three inquired about mother tongue. The 1920
census also asked the year of arrival and status of every
foreign-born person and inquired about the year of naturalization
for those individuals who had become U.S. citizens. In 1920 the
census included, for the first time, Guam, American Samoa, and
the Panama Canal Zone.
Due to boundary modifications in Europe resulting from World War
I, some individuals were uncertain about how to identify their
national origin. Enumerators were instructed to spell out the
name of the city, state, province, or region of respondents who
declared that they or their parents had been born in Germany,
Austria-Hungary, Russia, or Turkey. Interpretation of the
birthplace varied from one enumerator to another. Some failed to
identify specific birthplaces within those named countries, and
others provided an exact birthplace in countries not designated
in the instructions.
There are no separate Indian population schedules in the 1920
census. Inhabitants of reservations were enumerated in the
general population schedules. Enumerators were instructed not to
report servicemen in the family enumerations but to treat them as
residents of their duty posts. The 1920 census includes schedules
for overseas military and naval forces.
The original 1920 census schedules were destroyed by
authorization of the Eighty-third Congress, so it is not possible
to consult originals when microfilm copies prove unreadable.
Taken from Chapter 5: Research in Census Records, The Source: A
Guidebook of American Genealogy by Loretto Dennis Szucs; edited
by Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking (Salt Lake
City, UT: Ancestry Incorporated, 1997).
Source Information:
Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census. [database
on-line] Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 2001-. Indexed by Ancestry.com
from microfilmed schedules of the 1920 U.S. Federal Decennial
Census.1920 United States Federal Census. [database online]
Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 2001. Data imaged from National Archives
and Records Administration. 1920 Federal Population Census. T625,
2,076 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records
Administration.
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Indexed by Home in 1920
Clarendon
Hedley
Lelia Lake
Precinct
Precinct 1
Precinct 2
Precinct 4
Precinct 5
This page was last updated August 5, 2005.