Seeking 1810 U.S. Census for Salem, MA

Dear Ms. Bower,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the Population Schedules for the 1810 Census in the Records of the Bureau of the Census (Record Group 29) but were unable to determine if Salem was included. For questions about the 1810 census for Massachusetts, please contact the National Archives at Washington, DC - Textual Reference (RDT1) via email at archives1reference@nara.gov.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to guidance received from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of NARA staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgement as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RDT1. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.

Also, please review the resources listed on NARA’s Census web pages. In addition, please review the report titled 1810 Census: Aggregate Amount of Each Description of Persons within the United States of America, and the Territories from the US Census Bureau that may include clues to the “missing pages” for Salem.

Lastly, we suggest that you check with the Massachusetts State Archives and the Essex County Museum & Historical Society to see if they know why Salem seems to be missing from the 1810 census.

We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your research!

Hi Beth!

M252-18 is the microfiche roll for Salem MA, according to one site.

Bob

The Salem 1810 census was lost for many years until, just recently, it was recovered. You can find it here:

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/205601220