The Eighth Census of the United States was authorized by the previous census May 23, 1850 act. On the recommendation of the Secretary of the Interior, the provisions of this act were to be adhered to, following the requirement for the taking of the eighth, or any subsequent census under its provisions, if no law, therefore, was passed before January 1 of the year in which the census was required.1”
The census office, and the position of Superintending Clerk were (for all practical purpose) abolished in May 1862. A portion of the clerks engaged in census work were transferred to the General Land Office, where the work of the 1860 census was completed, including the publication of a two-volume census report, under the direction of the Commissioner of the General Land Office.
1Carrol D. Wright and William C. Hunt, The History and Growth of the United States Census. Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 1900. p.50.
| 1860 Census Information | Online | Download |
|---|---|---|
| Population of the United States in 1860; comp. from the original returns of the Eighth Census... | PDF |
ZIP 113.7 MB |
| Agriculture of the United States in 1860; comp. from the original returns of the Eighth Census... | PDF |
ZIP 58.9 MB |
| Manufactures of the United States in 1860; comp. from the original returns of the Eighth Census... | PDF |
ZIP 125.4 MB |
| Statistics of the United States, (including mortality, property, &c.) in 1860; comp. from the original returns and being the final exhibit of the Eighth Census... | PDF |
ZIP 169.9 MB |
| Preliminary report on the Eighth Census, 1860. 1862 (37-2, H. Ex doc 116) | PDF |
ZIP 44.2 MB |
| Instructions to U.S. Marshals & Assistants | PDF |
PDF 8 MB |
For online viewing, each book with a total file size over 10 MB has been divided into several internally linked PDF files. These same files have also been zipped to provide users a more convenient method of transferring the files to an alternate storage device for offline viewing. The total file size of the online PDF files is similar to that of their ZIP counterparts.
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Source: U.S. Census Bureau
