Have you used the 1790-1840 census records in your genealogy research? Many beginning genealogists skip these valuable record sources because they do not believe they will include anything useful for them. After all, these early census records only recorded the names of the heads of households. Everyone else in the household was nameless, though the 1810-1840 census records break down males and females in each household by age group and free or slave status. The 1840 census even lists how many people living in the household are Revolutionary War veterans. This might not seem like much to go on to discover the people who lived with your early ancestors (and discover new ancestors in the process), but it can be done. You just have to know where to look for clues to the identities of those check marks under the gender and age categories on these old census records. Here’s how to do it.
