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When the 1860 federal census was collected and enumerated, slavery was still legal within most of the states south of the Mason-Dixon line. The 1860 federal census enumerated only free people of color in its population schedule; slaves were enumerated namelessly on a separate schedule, identified only by slave owner, age, gender, and color.

This article is part of a continuing series looking at each federal census individually. Please read the others in the archives of this column. The 1870 U. S. Census was the Ninth Decennial Census. This census is probably the single most important census for genealogists conducting research on African-American families

On 20 October 2009, this column addressed the topic of Y-DNA testing for genealogical purposes. This relatively new development in science holds revolutionary potential for genealogy, especially African-American research. The most recent issue of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly (Sep 2009) contains the case study of an African-American family where Y-DNA testing revealed direct male line European ancestry.[1]