Press Releases

Ancestry.com, the world's largest online family history source, today announced it has completed digitizing and indexing the entire U.S. Federal Census from 1790 to 1930. Ancestry.com is the only source where all publicly released census information can be found online.

The addition of the complete census collection makes Ancestry.com the most comprehensive genealogical database ever compiled online with more than five billion searchable names. Prior to the completion of this project, these priceless pieces of American history were primarily found on microfilm at the National Archive and Records Administration (NARA) offices and select libraries across the country.

"Ancestry.com has made a vast investment in technology, people, research and tools to bring online this national treasure and the amazing emotional connections that come with it," said Tim Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer, Ancestry.com. "We are just beginning to scratch the surface in terms of the amount of content we can offer and the millions of people all over the globe we can connect. Through simple and easy-to-use search tools, virtually anyone with a computer and a connection can begin to explore and make amazing discoveries."

Over the course of the Census digitization project, Ancestry.com's team of experts spent 6.6 million hours of labor deciphering handwriting from 13 million original census documents and 21.9 billion keystrokes manually entering information into the database.

"A few years ago, the idea that the census would be digitized and indexed online seemed beyond the realm of possibility," said Ruth Carr, Chief, Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. "Researchers had to work with thousands of reels of microfilm in order to find a specific person or family they wanted to learn about. With the digitization of the census, it is now possible for someone to type a name in the search box, and within seconds view the image of the actual Census page."

The U.S. Federal Census on Ancestry.com provides a wide range of "snapshots" into the lives and lifestyles of ancestors. At the touch of a button a subscriber can access an individual's record, revealing occupation, age, race, marital status, relationship to head of household, place of birth, parents' place of birth, assets, native language, neighbors and street address.

The 14 available enumerations in the census collection reveal some fascinating facts. For instance, Abraham Lincoln's wife Mary, aged only seven years between the 1850 and the 1860 enumerations (in other words, perhaps someone wasn't truthful about their age). Harry Truman lived with his mother-in-law just 15 years before he became President of the United States. According to the 1930 U.S. Census, Tom Hanks' grandfather, Clarence Frager, worked for "Rodent Control," and his daughter's birth certificate listed the exact occupation as "squirrel inspector."

With an estimated 73 percent of the U.S. population actively researching or interested in family history, genealogy is one of the largest and fastest growing online industries today. Ancestry.com makes family history research easier by providing customers a myriad of resources which help bring the complete census collection to life through a vast range of archives including photographs; birth, marriage and death records; military records; immigration records; newspapers and periodicals and personal narratives.

Access to the newly completed U.S. Federal Census collection, along with Ancestry.com's full line of international and U.S. databases, can be purchased on a monthly or annual subscription basis at the following rates.

  Annual membership:
  $155.40 for the U.S. Deluxe collection (equivalent to $12.95 per month)
  $347.40 for the World Deluxe collection (equivalent to $28.95 per month)

  Monthly membership:
  $29.95 for the U.S. Deluxe collection
  $39.95 for the World Deluxe collection

About Ancestry.com

With 725,000 paid subscribers, Ancestry.com is the largest online family history site and the premier resource for Americans interested in learning about their family history. Since 1997, Ancestry.com has been helping people connect to their roots, delivering a wealth of genealogical data to customers. Ancestry.com is the No. 1 online source for family history information, including the web's largest collection of historical records. Ancestry.com is part of a global network of sites under MyFamily.com, Inc., that includes Ancestry.co.uk, Ancestry.ca, Rootsweb.com, Genealogy.com, and MyFamily.com. For more information, visit http://www.ancestry.com/