04_ACT_FedCensus_OlympiaTerr_1860
4. A federal census enumerates and identifies every resident of the United
States every ten years. The Tilton household is enumerated, from one page
from the federal census, in Olympia, Washington Territory, 1860.
Where was this census taken?
When was it taken?
What is the month of this census? (Charles Mitchell escaped in September
1860.)
Find Olympia on a map. It was the capital of Washington Territory in 1860 and
is the capital of Washington State today.
Describe the Tilton household. (Clara Sheets was James Tilton’s sister, and she
was widowed.)
Look at the other information gathered on this page. What else can you tell
from the columns of this census? For example, where were people born?
Do a census of the students in your class, just as this census taker did, going
from student to student and filling out a form.
Why is the census taken in the United States every ten years? What does the
census have to do with “apportionment” in the U.S. Congress?
Write a story about Olympia in 1860, choosing three of the people on this page
as your characters, using their names, ages and races.
Write a one-paragraph biography of Charles Mitchell, based on what you know
from these documents.