A 232nd Genealogy Anniversary

[After living in Washington, DC and northern Virginia for 40 years, my wife and I moved to New Jersey almost exactly one year ago.  Preparing to sell our home of thirty years, going through the sales process, moving a household of more than three decades of accumulated "stuff" into a four-month rental in New Jersey, and then finding a new home to purchase and renovate to our needs and tastes necessitated an unexpectedly long hiatus from blogging.  The adjustment continues, but today marks what I hope will be a slow return to blogging after an absence of essentially eighteen months.]

The well-known painting above illustrates an assembly of some thirty-seven or so early American genealogists.  It marks the celebration of a monumental moment of creation -- the gift of a hugely important resource for future genealogists.  It also, by the way, marks the creative launch of a new form of self-government based on a written charter.

Two hundred thirty-two years ago the governmental charter known as the Constitution for the United States of America created a new government of three branches with powers intended to exist within a system of checks and balances.  Today we are watching almost daily in real time a contest that is testing the balance of power between at least two of the branches of government and stressing the concept of checks and balances.  But amid this political chaos, we present-day genealogists should step outside the political maelstrom today and take a moment to appreciate and celebrate the gift that the 18th Century genealogists gathered in Philadelphia in September 1787 gave to us on this day 232 years ago.

Inserted in the opening Article of the Constitution, Article I, Section 2 provides that the members of the House of Representaives in the legislative branch of the new government will be chosen every two years "by the People of the several States."  And the number of such "Representatives" was to be apportioned among the states "according to their respective Numbers," which meant according to an actual enumeration of persons within every state.*  The first enumeration had to take place within three years after the first meeting of the new Congress of the United States "and within every subsequent Term of ten years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct."  And this was the gift to given to future genealogists -- what we now know as the U.S. Census!

So today, in addition to celebrating Constitution Day, we genealogists should raise a glass to the unintentional genealogists pictured above.  They unknowingly presented us with one of the most significant record resources for genealogy research -- which is not to say that Census records are flawless.  [For example, see "Federal Censuses -- Purveyors of Fake News?" posted here on March 12, 2018]  It is true that Census enumeration records must be examined and analyzed closely, but it is also true that the enumerations, as they have evolved over time, are a rich source for a variety of information and hints about our ancestors and relatives. Among the evolving information that the decennial enumerations have presented us over time are: marital status, relationships within households, education levels, number of children, number of marriages, occupation, property ownership v. rental, citizenship/naturalization, parental birthplace, etc.

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*  This requirement being refined by section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment (that removed the iniquitous three-fifths of all non-free persons calculation from enumerations) and the Nineteenth Amendment (that expanded the pool of eligible voters to included women). 

The scan above is of the painting by Howard Chandler Christy.  It is in the public domain.  It is a 20 x 30 ft. oil on canvas that was completed in 1940 and hangs in east grand stairway of the House wing of the United States Capitol.  For a larger version and more information go here.

Copyright 2019, John D. Tew

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