Over the last six months, this column has discussed the "Anatomy" of the federal census for the years from 1870-1930, not including the mostly-destroyed 1890 census. In this series of articles, each column of the census questionnaire was examined, and clues that will aid your research were discussed. If you have missed any of these articles, you can read them again using the links below:
Anatomy of the 1930 federal census
Anatomy of the 1920 federal census
Anatomy of the 1910 federal census
Anatomy of the 1900 federal census
Anatomy of the 1880 federal census
Anatomy of the 1870 federal census
In a discussion concerning the federal census as evidence for genealogical research, however, one must also consider the question: are census records reliable sources?