People of Color in the Massachusetts State Census, 1855 - 1865: Full Introduction

Massachusetts took state censuses every ten years from 1855 to 1925, but the enumerations still exist for only 1855 and 1865. The original censuses are available at the Massachusetts State Archives and microfilm copies are available at the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the Boston Public Library, and through the LDS Church libraries.

Many of the people of color found in mid-nineteenth century Massachusetts were born outside of Massachusetts. The 1780 Constitution of Massachusetts was an anti-slavery document because of the first article of its Declaration of Rights. Court cases in the 1780s confirmed that slavery was no longer legal in Massachusetts. This led slaves from surrounding states to move to Massachusetts: those from Rhode Island and Connecticut into Bristol County; those from Connecticut up the Connecticut River into what is now Hampshire and Hampden counties; and those from New York into Berkshire County. And of course the Underground Railroad brought many blacks from the south. The birthplaces of those born outside the United States include the Caribbean Islands or West Indies, Canada, Portugal (and the Portuguese islands), many of the European countries, South America, Africa, the Pacific Islands, New Zealand, India, and China.

Occupations for people of color cover a wide variety of fields including the expected ones of laborer, farmer, barber, waiter, mariner, porter, domestic, servant, and in 1865, soldier. Other occupations include silversmith, cigar maker, glass cutter, lumber dealer, carpenter, shoemaker, fireman, fiddler, shipwright, painter, carriage maker, confectioner, city messenger (City Crier in New Bedford), and many clergymen and doctors including Julie E. Lewis who was listed as a female physician in 1865.

I have culled out all those persons who have a notation in the color column other than "w" (white) or a blank space. The census form asks for color as white, black, or mulatto. This left the individual enumerators to figure out what to do with those that did not clearly fit into one of these three groups. Some enumerators simply left the column blank while others wrote in Indian, 1/2 Indian, negro, colored, 1/2 black, or even copper. In the following I have used "w" for white, "b" for black, "m" for mulatto, "n" for negro, and "c" for colored. Other designations are spelled out. The problem of what to do with those other than white, black, or mulatto, is most clearly seen in Barnstable County. For example, in 1855 there are thirty-six people in Yarmouth listed "with Indian blood," but in 1865, these same people are listed with the color column left blank as the enumerator did with the whites. I have not attempted to make comparisons between the two years to find out how many people might have been listed with color in one census but not in the other.

If a person of color is listed in a household where the others are listed as white (or if the color column is left blank) and when the surname of the person of color is different from the others, I have only culled out only the person of color. If persons of color appear to be in a family grouping with people marked white or where the color column is blank, then I have culled out the whole family group.

Fields in the database are as follows: the household and family numbers with a slash between them, the surname, the first name, age, sex, color, birthplace, and occupation. Occasionally an enumerator would begin each page with household #1 and family #1. In this case the household and family number is of no help to the researcher in finding the family and I have simply put an asterisk "*" in the first column. Often a town will have several sections (sometimes corresponding to the school districts) each with a separate numbering; I have indicated in which section people can be found. In 1865 the actual census will provide more information: there is a column asking whether the person is married, widowed, or single and three final columns asking whether the person is a ratable poll, a legal voter, or a naturalized voter.