Allen County, Indiana Genealogy

Individual Census Records from 1790 to 1950 are maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration, not the U.S. Census Bureau.

June 1, 1900, the census enumerators Simeon Stonder in Aboite Township, found on Roll 357, Geo. W Diffendarfer in Lafayette Township, found on Roll 358, and Thomas H. McCormick Jr. in Wayne Township, found on Roll 359, started recording the 12th U.S. Federal Census. See What day was the census taken each decade? at the United States Census Bureau.

Look at the Fort Wayne City and Allen County Directories issued yearly since 1858.

See the 1900 Overview at United States Census Bureau.

Census Instructions

The decennial census has always required a large workforce to visit and collect data from households. Between 1790 to 1870, the duty of collecting census data fell upon the U.S. Marshals. A March 3, 1879 act replaced the U.S. Marshals with specially hired and trained census-takers to conduct the 1880 and subsequent censuses.

During the early censuses, U.S. Marshalls received little training or instruction on how to collect census data. In fact, it was not until 1830 that marshals even received printed shedules on which to record households' responses. The marshals often received limited instruction from the census acts passed prior to each census. 

Beginning with the 1880 census, specially hired and trained census-takers replaced the U.S. marshals. Door-to-door census by temporary census-takers was the primary method of conducting the census until the U.S. Census Bureau began mailing questionnaires to households in 1960.

As more and more households received and returned their questionnaires by mail, the role of census-taker changed. Today, the majority of households are counted by mailed questionnaires. Census-takers visit places frequented by transient households (shelters and soup kitchens, campsites, etc.) and households that do not return their mailed questionnaires (during the "Nonresponse Follow-Up" phase of the census). As a result, the "Instructions to Enumerators" provided here include the congressional acts U.S. marshalls reviewed during the early census, specially-published instructions for door-to-door census, and lastly, guides used for the limited number of personal interviews conducted during nonresponse follow-up operations.

Copied from the Census Intructions at the United States Census Bureauthat has the 1900 Instructions.

Aboite Township - Roll 357 - (part: EDs 1-7) - Page 243 A (n471) - 12th census of population, 1900 [microform] : Indiana (1978) on Internet Archive.

Lafayette Township - Roll 358 (cont'd: EDs 8-36 and ED 37, sheets 1-3) - 12th census of population, 1900 [microform] : Indiana (1978) on Internet Archive.

Wayne Township - Roll 359 - (cont'd: EDs 8-36 and ED 37, sheets 1-3) - 12th census of population, 1900 [microform] : Indiana (1978) on Internet Archive.

See the city Wards above in this 1898 Standard atlas of Allen County, Indiana : including a plat book of the villages, cities and townships of the county ... patrons directory, reference business directory ... by Geo. A. Ogle & Co. on Internet Archive.

Links to Online Census Records

1. Ancestry.comblank 1900 census form
2. Census Tick Marks and Codes — Revisited Yet Again! discusses those curious markings all over census entries by Elizabeth Shown Mills, Ancestry Daily News, 04 January 2005; archived at Ancestry.com, Learning Center on historicpathways.com.
3. FamilySearch.orgWiki 1900 Census Information
4. FamilySearch.orgBrowse 1900 Census by Township by Enumeration Districts - over 3,000,000 images
5. FamilySearch.orgSearch 1900 U.S. Census Index
6. FamilySearch.orgWiki for Indiana Census 1807 - 1940 links organized by year to various online census records.
7. FindMyPast.com Free US Census 1900
8. Use Steve Morse Census Search Tool for any census
9. Internet Archivepage 243 A (n471) first page of Allen County Reel 357
10. Internet Archive- 12th census of population, 1900 [microform] : Indiana (Volume Reel 357 - 1900 Indiana Federal Population Census Schedules - Adams and Allen (part: EDs 1-7) Counties) - United States. Bureau of the Census.
11. Internet Archive- 12th census of population, 1900 [microform] : Indiana (Volume Reel 358 - 1900 Indiana Federal Population Census Schedules - Allen County (cont'd: EDs 8-36 and ED 37, sheets 1-3)) - United States. Bureau of the Census.
12. Internet Archive- 12th census of population, 1900 [microform] : Indiana (Volume Reel 359 - 1900 Indiana Federal Population Census Schedules - Allen (cont'd: ED 37, sheet 4-end) and Bartholomew Counties) - United States. Bureau of the Census.
13. Internet Archive- Index (Soundex) to 1900 Indiana Census
14. No USGenWeb 1900 Census transcription or indexing