Local History: Samuel T. Busey and His Family
Staci Ward
Summer Fellowship 2008
Lesson 2: Using Census Records to tell about the Past
Essential Questions/Enduring Understandings:
What conclusions can be drawn about life in the 1800s and life today based on the
information gathered in the census records?
What are some of the limitations of using some primary sources?
Objective: As a result of this lesson, students will be able to analyze census records for an early
pioneer family and list the limitations of those documents.
Duration: 40 to 60 minutes
Materials: chart paper, Busey Family Census Records Analysis Sheet for each student, census
records for the Busey Family, pencils for each student, picture of Samuel T. Busey’s diary cover,
the first and last page of Samuel T. Busey’s diary, *optional-computers for research to extension
question
Procedure:

Tell students that they are going to use the information they previously learned about
the US census records to learn more about a local pioneer family from Urbana. Each
student should receive the census forms from 1860, 1870 and 1880 for the Busey family
and the census records analysis sheet.

Students should complete the first box on their own filling in information they already
may have about the Busey family. Before they continue with the rest of the sheet, ask,
“What do you notice about the way information was recorded on the census records?”
Have students keep in mind the fact that there were a lot of census workers and each of
them recorded information by hand as they visited all the homes in a particular area.

Have students continue to analyze the census records with their groups and fill in the
boxes on the analysis sheet as they do so.

When they have finished the analysis sheet, engage students in a discussion about what
they have learned about the Busey family.

Point out that Census records were available for the year 1900, but Samuel T. Busey’s
family was not listed in the records. Ask students why this would be. Lead students in a
discussion about other primary sources that may be evidence of the existence of
individuals at particular times. If not mentioned, give students an example of how a
diary can be used to do this very thing by using a page from Samuel T. Busey’s diary.
Show the picture of Busey’s travel diary, and the first and last pages of the diary. (This
diary may help point out that the Busey family may not have been included in the US
census for that year because they were Europe for an extended period of time. This is
helpful to point out some limitations of primary sources such as the census that
students will be asked to discuss later in the lesson.)

On chart paper, record responses to the following question: What are some of the
challenges that one has to consider when analyzing primary source records such as
these? (If students do not mention it, lead up to the idea that there were such
difficulties as recording information for people who may not have had families and/or
homes, information written by had by different people so info may have been hard to
read or the recorder may have made mistakes, etc.).
Assessment:
Students should be observed for active participation in discussion as well as their responses on
the census records analysis sheet.
*Optional Extension:
Have students research the answer to the following question:
There are few, if any federal census records available for families and individuals from 1890 but
the census was taken in that year and continued every ten years after that. Why do you think
this would be? Do some research on the internet to find out the answer, you can start at the
National Archives and Records Administration website and the US Census Bureau website.
(There was a big fire in 1921 in Washington D.C. and many records were destroyed.)
Primary Sources Used:
Census records from Samuel T. Busey’s family 1860-1880, Samuel T. Busey’s diary in 1900
Link to Local History:
Census records for a prominent pioneer family from early Champaign County and the city of
Urbana.