U.S. Census Office. 10th Census, 1880. SOUNDEX carded index to the Arkansas population schedules
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Scope and Content Note
This collection consists of index cards describing and organizing the information contained on the population schedule of the 1880 Census for the state of Arkansas.
Dates
- ca 1940
Creator
- United States. Census Office (Organization)
Language of Materials
Materials are in English.
Access Information
Please call (479) 575-8444 or email specoll@uark.edu at least two weeks in advance of your arrival to ensure availability of the materials.
Use Information
No Use Restrictions Apply
No Interlibrary Loan
Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17)
Biographical Note
The Tenth Census of the United States was conducted in 1880. The Census concluded that there was a national population of 50,189,209 and that Arkansas had a population of 802,505. In 1940 U.S. Work Projects Administration employees developed a phonetic system for indexing the population schedules of this census.
Extent
102 Linear Feet (47 Boxes)
Arrangement of the Papers
Materials are arranged in rough alphabetical order.
GUIDE TO USE
Employees of the U.S. Work Projects Administration devised, about 1940, a phonetic system for indexing, by name of the head of any household in which there was a child or children aged 10 years or under, the population schedules of the 1880 census. This so-called "SOUNDEX" index locates entries for such heads of households by use of an alphanumeric device comprised of the first letter of a surname followed by three digits (1 through 6) encoding the sound of the remainder of the name, however it is spelled. To locate an individual (i.e., head of household with one or more children under age 11), therefore, it is necessary first to encode the name according to the system below, which it is to be noted, provides no numeric equivalent for vowels or for the letters h, w, or y:
Thus the name "Jones," for example, would be coded "J520" (where the letter "o" is not encoded, the letter "n" is coced 5, the letter "e" is not encoded, the letter "s" is coded 2, and the absence of any subsequent letters is indicated by zero). Similarly, "Smith" becomes "S530," "Johnson" becomes "J525," and "Washington" becomes "W252" (with code digits, a mazimum of three, for the letters "s," "n," and "g," only, not for the remaining "t" and "n."). However, when two key letters or equivalents appear together in a name, or when one key letter immediately follows or precedes an equivalent, the two are coded as one letter, by a single number: thus "Kelly" becomes "K400" (not "K440"), "Buerck becomes "B620" (note "B622") and "Lloyd becomes "L300" (not "L430"). Code Key letters or phonetic equivalents 1 b, p, f, v 2 c, s, k, g, j, q, x, z 3 d, t 4 l 5 m, n 6 r
Prefixes to surnames, such as "van," "Von," "Di," "de," "D'," etc. will sometimes, but not always, be found to have been disregarded by indexers.
It is important to keep in mind that entries are not filed in a strict alphabetical order by surname. Rather, they are filed by code (any one of which may represent several surnames which sound more or less alike), and thereunder in alphabetical order by first name. Thus, for example, the following sequence under code "E363":
Two or more entries for the identical name (e.g., "E363. Edwards, Henry") are filed alphabetically by name of the state in which the indexed person was born. Thus entries for six individuals, all named "Henry Edwards, " are filed in the sequence "Arkansas," "Arkansas," "Georgia," "Illinois," "Mississippi," "Virginia." Etheridge, Samuel Edwards, Sarah Edwards, Sarah E. Edwards, Sarah M. Ethridge, Seborn Edwards, Sim [etc.]
Some boxes of index cards are indicated as containing "Mixed Codes." This means that, in these boxes, there is not always a divider card separating each exact code. Within such "Mixed Code" groupings, entries are filed alphabetically by first name. Therefore, if a researcher knows only that the entry he or she is seeking is located within such a range of codes, he or she can located the entry by ignoring the specific code number, searching within the group exclusively by first name.
Card entries provide the following information for each indexed head of household: surname; first name; middle name or initial (if any); race; sex; age in years; state in which born; country and township in which residing; citation (by volume number, enumeration district, sheet number, and line number) to the entry on the population schedule; name, age, and place (state) of birth of spouse; name(s), age(s), and place (state) of bith of children residing with the head of household. Thus a search for a Henry Edwards known or thought to have been residing in AShley County in 1880 would locate, in Box 49, a "E363. Edwards, Henry," who was a black male, 29 years old, who had been born in Illinois, was then residing in De Bastrop Township (Ashley County), who was enumerated in Census Vol. 1, E.D. 8, Sheet 2, Line 21 [cf. entry at this location on Reel 53 of Film 89]; lived with a wife named Ann who was 26 years old and had been born in Mississippi, and with four children, whose names were Benjamin, John, Lizzie, and Willie, who were aged 9, 7, 3, and 10 months, respectively, and all of whom had been born in Arkansas.
Acquisition Information
The U.S. Census Office 10th Census, 1880 SOUNDEX Index Cards were a gift of U.S. National Archives and Records Service, Federal Records Center, Fort Worth, Texas to the Special Collections Division in October 1978.
Processing Information
Processed by Samuel Sizer, completed in 1978
- Title
- U.S. Census Office. 10th Census, 1880. SOUNDEX carded index to the Arkansas population schedules
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Samuel Sizer
- Date
- 1978
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid is written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections Department Repository
University of Arkansas Libraries
365 N. McIlroy Avenue
Fayetteville AR 72701 United States
(479) 575-8444
specoll@uark.edu