1850 United States Census - Slave Schedule

The 1850 U.S. Federal Census marked a turning point in census-taking. For the first time, every free person was listed by name (including free African Americans), rather than only heads of households as in prior censuses.^[1] However, enslaved individuals were not listed by name in the population schedule. Instead, the government introduced a separate Slave Schedule (Schedule 2) to enumerate enslaved people anonymously under their owners’ names. This was done in 1850 and again in 1860. Prior to 1850, enslaved people had been counted only by age and sex in the general census, effectively as tick marks.

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Historical Background: The 1850 Census and the Slave ScheduleHistorical Background: The 1850 Census and the Slave Schedule

The creation of a dedicated Slave Schedule reflected the social and legal realities of the time. Enslaved persons were treated as property in census counts. Approximately 3.2 million enslaved individuals were recorded in 1850 across slaveholding states. The census marshals (enumerators) were instructed to gather detailed statistics on slavery without granting enslaved people personal identity in the records. The Slave Schedules exist for most slaveholding states and territories in 1850, including Alabama, Arkansas, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey (1850 only), North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah Territory, and Virginia. These documents are crucial for genealogists researching enslaved ancestors or slaveholding families before the Civil War.

Structure and Content of the 1850 Slave ScheduleStructure and Content of the 1850 Slave Schedule

The 1850 Slave Schedule was essentially a list of slave owners and statistical descriptions of each enslaved person they held. Each page was arranged by slave owner’s name, followed by entries for each enslaved individual owned by that person. Instead of names for the enslaved, the schedule provided the following columns of information:

Name of Slave Owner – The full name of the slaveholder (individual or entity). Each owner’s slaves were listed in a group under their name. If multiple people jointly owned a slave, only one name was recorded.
Number of Slaves – A numerical identifier for each enslaved person, assigned in order for that owner. The first slave listed under an owner was numbered “1,” the second “2,” and so on. This number was not a population count but an index for each person since names were omitted.
Age – The age of the enslaved person, in years (estimated if exact age was unknown). Infants under 1 year were recorded as fractional ages (e.g. 3 months old as 3/12). Every enslaved person’s age was noted, even if approximate.
Sex – Gender of the enslaved person, “M” for male or “F” for female.
Color – Race was indicated as “B” for Black or “M” for mulatto (used at the time for persons of mixed African and European descent). All enslaved people were categorized in one of these two racial designations. (White individuals did not appear in the Slave Schedule since they could not be recorded as slaves.)
Fugitive from the State – This column recorded if the person had escaped from slavery in the past year and was not recovered. If so, the enumerator was to write “yes” or specify and count them as a fugitive (runaway) slave. (Often this column was just left blank; in some cases, enumerators oddly marked all mulattoes as fugitives, reflecting confusion or bias in record-keeping.)
Number Manumitted – The number of slaves freed (manumitted) by the owner in the year prior to the census (June 1, 1849 to May 31, 1850). If an owner had freed slaves, the number appears in this column next to that owner’s name. In practice, this was rarely a large number.
“Deaf, Dumb, Blind, Insane, or Idiotic” – A column noting any enslaved person who had a disability or mental illness. Enumerators would write the specific condition (e.g. “blind” or “insane”) next to that individual’s entry if applicable. If an enslaved person had none of these conditions, the column was left blank.
Remarks – A final column allowed notes. In 1850 it was often unused, but sometimes enumerators wrote contextual remarks here. (In 1860, a number of slave houses on the property was added in this area, but the 1850 form did not ask for that.)

Notably, names of enslaved people were not recorded on the 1850 Slave Schedule. The schedule’s printed form even had a note reminding that slave names should not be listed. An extremely important implication is that genealogists cannot directly get an enslaved ancestor’s name from this census – only an age, sex, and color recorded under a slaveholder’s entry.

What was omitted? Besides the names of enslaved individuals, the Slave Schedule did not record family relationships among slaves, exact places of birth, or surnames. Enslaved people typically did not have legally recognized last names at that time, and the census did not assign any placeholder names. The schedule was concerned with the number of slaves and certain characteristics valuable to the slaveholding society (age, sex, race, etc.), rather than personal identities. As a result, the entries might list, for example, an owner with “5 slaves” described as male or female, ages 2, 10, 17, 30, 45, and their color noted – but those individuals remain unnamed in the record.

One minor exception to the no-names rule was that centenarians (enslaved people aged 100 or older) were sometimes named. Census instructions in 1850 and 1860 allowed (or encouraged) enumerators to record the names of any enslaved person who was 100 years old or more. In practice, very few enslaved people reached that age; those who did might have their first name and a brief note written in the schedule. For example, an enslaved man noted as “Robert, age 104” was recorded by name in one county. Similarly, in 1860 an enumerator in Hampshire County, Virginia unusually recorded all slave names on the schedule (an instance of not following the official instructions). These are rare cases – researchers should understand that virtually all enslaved individuals in 1850 records are listed only by age, sex, and color, under an owner’s name.

Using the 1850 Slave Schedule: Step-by-Step GuideUsing the 1850 Slave Schedule: Step-by-Step Guide

Researching ancestors from the slavery era can be challenging, but the 1850 Slave Schedule can provide critical clues. Below is a step-by-step approach to leverage these records for genealogy. This process typically starts from known information after the Civil War (1870 and later) and works backward:

Identify Ancestors in 1870 – Begin with the 1870 U.S. Census, the first census after emancipation where formerly enslaved people are listed by name. Note the names, ages, and locations of your African American ancestors in 1870. These individuals (or their parents) may have been enslaved prior to 1865. For each person found in 1870, subtract about 10–20 years from their age to estimate their age in 1850 and 1860. Make a list of those who would have been alive in 1850/1860 and likely enslaved at that time (for example, an ancestor who was 30 in 1870 would have been about 10 in 1850). This list of names with approximate earlier ages will be your reference for matching to Slave Schedule entries.
Look for Slaveholder Surnames – In the 1870 census, pay attention to the surnames of your ancestors and the surnames of white families living nearby. It was common (though not guaranteed) for emancipated people to adopt the surname of a former enslaver. Scan the 1870 census neighborhood where your ancestor lived for any white family with the same last name, or a very similar spelling. Also consider the possibility that an enslaved family might have taken the name of a prior owner, not necessarily their last owner – so you may need to cast a wide net for similar surnames. Compile a list of candidate slaveholding families (of the same surname or known from family lore) in that county or surrounding area.
Find the Candidates in 1860 Slave Schedules – Using the list of potential slaveholder names (from step 2), check the 1860 Slave Schedule first (since it’s closer to 1870) to see if those families owned slaves. If your ancestor’s surname is, say, Harris, look for any white Harris in the county (or state) in 1860 who appears as a slave owner. The slave schedule is organized by county and then by owner name, so you might use an index or searchable database to find them. If a candidate name is found in 1860, note how many slaves they owned and the ages/genders of those slaves. This could include your ancestors as children or young adults. If a particular name is not found in 1860, also check the 1850 Slave Schedule – some slaveholders died or moved between 1850 and 1860, so an owner of interest might appear in one year and not the other.
Compare Ages and Genders – With your ancestor’s estimated age in 1860 (from step 1) in mind, look at the list of enslaved people under the candidate slaveholder. Do any of the ages/sexes line up with your family? For example, if you seek a male ancestor who would have been about 12 in 1860, does that slaveholder have a 12-year-old male listed? Also consider family groupings: if you suspect a family (mother and children) were enslaved together, do you see a cluster of ages that match (e.g. a 30-year-old female and children aged 10, 8, 5 in that household)? Sometimes the ordering of ages can hint at family units, though the schedules did not explicitly note family relationships. A close match in ages and sexes does not prove identity, but it is a strong clue. Remember, the slave schedule only gives age, sex, and color – you are essentially looking for a statistical match to your known family data.
Narrow Down Likely Owners – Often you may find more than one potential slaveholding family with matching age/sex entries. Evaluate them critically. Some guidelines:
- More Likely Matches: The ages/sexes of the slaves in 1850/1860 align well with the composition of your family as you know it in 1870. For instance, a particular slave owner in 1860 has a 5-year-old female, 8-year-old male, and 30-year-old female listed, which correspond closely to an 1870 household where a 15-year-old daughter and 18-year-old son live with a 40-year-old mother.
- Less Likely: The ages are off significantly or key family members are missing from that owner’s list (e.g. you expected to find a 10-year-old boy and 8-year-old girl together, but they aren’t both present).
- Unlikely: The surname appears in 1870 but that white family did not own any slaves in 1850/1860 (or the family isn’t in the area at all). In that case, the surname might have come from an earlier owner or elsewhere. Prioritize the slaveholders who actually had slaves near the right ages.
Check the 1850 Slave Schedule – Once you have one or two promising slaveholder candidates from the 1860 schedule, examine the 1850 Slave Schedule for those same names (if your ancestors would have been alive in 1850). See if that owner (or their family) held slaves in 1850 as well, and look at the ages. You might find your ancestors as very young children in 1850 under the same family. In some cases, you might catch changes – for example, an owner in 1850 with a 2-year-old male mulatto slave, who by 1860 is a 12-year-old mulatto boy in the same household, suggesting continuity. Also note that sometimes enslaved individuals were omitted from a schedule by mistake. If you suspect someone should be there but isn’t, consider that the census taker might have missed them, or they might have been counted with a different owner (if families were split or hired out). Cross-checking 1850 and 1860 can help ensure you have the full picture.
Research the Slaveholding Family in Other Records – The slave schedules alone won’t give names of enslaved people, so to confirm identities you must turn to other historical records. Once you have a likely slaveholder match (or a short list of candidates), delve into plantation records, wills, probate inventories, bills of sale, deeds, tax records, and court cases for that family. Wills and estate inventories often list enslaved individuals by name (e.g. “...my slaves Jack and Mary to my son...”). Bills of sale or deed records in county archives might record transactions of enslaved people by name and age, which you can compare with the ages from the slave schedules. If the slaveholder died around the 1850s or 1860s, their probate file is a critical source – many probate files include an inventory of property, which in slaveholding states includes enslaved persons, usually by name, sometimes with age. Finding a name in a will or inventory that matches an ancestor (e.g. a 10-year-old boy named Tony listed in an 1860 estate inventory of the suspected owner) can directly confirm the connection that the census slave schedule only hinted at. Also, look at local history books or archives for plantation records. Some large plantations kept private records of enslaved workers (slave lists, birth registers, etc.), which may be preserved in libraries or archives.
Consider Migration and Other Clues – Don’t assume your family had to be owned by someone of the same surname or in the same county. The last slaveholder could have been a different person entirely. If the straightforward search doesn’t pan out, consider that your ancestors might have moved after emancipation or been sold before 1865. For example, if you can’t find a matching slave owner in the same county, look at neighboring counties or states where the family might have relocated by 1870. It’s known that some freed people stayed near the plantation, while others moved far away for new opportunities or to reunite with family. Also, if you didn’t find any same-surname slaveholder, research prominent plantations near where your ancestors lived in 1870 – they may have belonged to a large slaveholder with a different name. Cluster research can help: if you identify any neighbors in 1870 who were formerly enslaved, and you find their slaveholder, that might point to the plantation where your family also lived. In other words, formerly enslaved people living as neighbors in 1870 may have come off the same plantation in 1865. Keep an open mind, and don’t force a fit – you might need to seek other sources (like those in the next section) if the slave schedules alone don’t reveal a clear connection.

Throughout this process, maintain a healthy skepticism. A match of age and sex on a slave schedule is circumstantial evidence. Always corroborate with additional documents if possible. The slave schedules are most powerful when used in combination with other sources, as discussed below.

Limitations and Challenges of Slave Schedule RecordsLimitations and Challenges of Slave Schedule Records

It’s important to understand the severe limitations of the 1850 (and 1860) Slave Schedules:

Enslaved Individuals Remain Unnamed: As emphasized, the lack of names is the biggest obstacle. The schedules cannot by themselves prove an enslaved person’s identity or parentage. At best, they serve as clues. Two different owners in the same area might each have had a 10-year-old black male in 1850 – without names, there’s no certainty which (if either) was your ancestor. Researchers cannot draw definitive conclusions from the slave schedule alone. Instead, you form a hypothesis (“Ancestor X might be the 10-year-old male listed under Y”) and then seek proof in other records.
No Family Relationships Shown: The ordering by age can sometimes imply family groups (e.g. an older female followed by several young children might be a mother with kids), but this is not guaranteed. The census taker may have listed slaves from oldest to youngest or in no clear order. One owner’s list might show an 8-year-old and 6-year-old next to a 30-year-old female – possibly her children – but another owner’s list might be scrambled. You cannot be certain of any familial ties from the schedule alone.
Inaccuracies in Age or Color: Ages given might be approximate. The owner or overseer providing information may not have known an enslaved person’s exact age. A child recorded as 8 might have actually been 6 or 10. Ages could also be deliberately rounded. Racial designation (“black” vs “mulatto”) was subjective and often inconsistently applied. Someone listed as “mulatto” in 1850 might be listed as “black” in 1860 or vice versa, depending on the enumerator’s perception. These inconsistencies can cause confusion when matching records.
Incomplete Data and Omissions: Occasionally, enslaved individuals were left off the schedules accidentally. The enumeration process was prone to human error. An assistant marshal might have skipped a household or failed to list a newborn infant, for example. In some cases, there were reporting quirks – as noted earlier, one county in 1860 (Hampshire Co., Virginia) didn’t follow instructions and did list names, whereas other counties might have missing pages or illegible entries. Always consider that the absence of someone on the slave schedule doesn’t guarantee they weren’t there; they might be recorded under a different owner (due to hiring out or sale) or lost to an enumeration error.
Multiple Slaveholders with Same Name: Common surnames can be a headache. If you’re researching an ancestor “Tom” who might have been enslaved by a Mr. Williams in a certain state, you may find several Williams in the 1850 slave schedules of that state. Distinguishing which Williams (if any) is connected to your family requires looking at locations, number of slaves, and later records. The slave schedules alone won’t differentiate people with identical names – you’ll need to use geography and other documents to clarify identities.
Slave Schedules as a Snapshot: The census gives information as of June 1, 1850. It doesn’t reflect changes that happened shortly before or after. If an enslaved person was sold in 1849, they would appear with a new owner in 1850, with no indication of their previous owner. If a slaveholder died in mid-1850, the census might still list the slaves under that deceased person’s name (or not at all, if the estate was in flux). So, the schedules should be seen as a single snapshot in time and might not capture transitions in ownership.

Because of these challenges, genealogists must use the Slave Schedules carefully. They are a starting point – a way to narrow possibilities. Definitive evidence usually comes from elsewhere. As one genealogist put it, slave schedules should never serve as direct proof of an enslaved ancestor’s identity or their enslaver, “simply because they don’t contain the names of the enslaved”. Instead, researchers treat the schedules as supporting evidence to bolster a hypothesis formed with the help of wills, deeds, family oral history, and post-war records.

Despite their limits, Slave Schedules are still invaluable. They provide context (e.g. how many people a family enslaved, the age distribution, etc.) and sometimes the only clue to begin identifying an enslaved ancestor in the absence of earlier named records. Understanding the pitfalls ensures that genealogists interpret the data cautiously and verify against other sources whenever possible.

Where to Access 1850 Slave Schedules OnlineWhere to Access 1850 Slave Schedules Online

The good news for researchers is that the 1850 (and 1860) Slave Schedules have been digitized and are widely available. Here are some major databases and archives where you can access them:

MyHeritage – MyHeritage has indexed the 1850 Slave Schedules. Name index of slave schedules listing slave owners and only age, gender and color data of the slaves in census states or territories in 1850. This was the first time that slave information was captured as a separate schedule. Indexed data and browse are available for the following: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. Slave schedules are not available for other states.
National Archives (NARA) – The National Archives holds the original microfilm of these schedules (Microfilm publication M432 for 1850). While NARA’s online catalog might not have all images freely online, they do provide some resources. For example, NARA’s 1850 Census Forms page provides blank forms and explains the schedules You can access the slave schedule microfilms via NARA facilities or some may be available on the National Archives website or affiliate sites.
State Archives and Libraries – Many state archives have copies of the Slave Schedules for their state. Some even have projects to put them online. For instance, the Missouri State Archives provides PDFs of the 1850 and 1860 slave census schedules for each county in Missouri. Check the resources for the specific state or county you’re researching – local genealogical societies may have published the slave schedule data in books or websites.
Other Genealogy Sites – Some specialized websites and message boards have partially indexed slave schedules. For example, AfriGeneas (https://www.afrigeneas.org/) has user-contributed indexes for certain areas. These can be useful to quickly find if a particular name was a slave owner in 1850. Always verify with the actual image, though, to see the full context.

When accessing these schedules, keep in mind that you will typically search by the slaveholder’s name or browse by location. If you only know the enslaved person’s first name (from oral history or later records), you generally cannot search the slave schedule by that name – you have to find the likely owner and then see if the ages match. The online databases allow you to input a state, county, or owner name to get to the right page image.

Beyond Slave Schedules: Combining Records for a Fuller ProfileBeyond Slave Schedules: Combining Records for a Fuller Profile

The 1850 Slave Schedule is just one piece of the puzzle in researching enslaved ancestors or slaveholding families. To build a richer genealogical profile, it’s essential to correlate the Slave Schedule data with other historical records:

1850 & 1860 Population Schedules (Free Inhabitants): Remember to also check the regular 1850 census population schedule. If your ancestors were free people of color (FPOC), they will be named there, not on the slave schedule. Even if they were enslaved, sometimes you might find relatives who were free (for example, a free black husband listed in the population schedule whose wife was enslaved – a rare but documented situation). For slaveholders, the population schedule shows details about the slave owner’s household (occupation, property value) that contextualize the slaveholding.
1870 Census: This is often the key record that bridges slavery to freedom. Once you think you have identified an enslaved person on the 1850 schedule, finding that person in 1870 (with a surname, family, and perhaps listed birthplace) can confirm your theory. The 1870 census can also reveal clusters of formerly enslaved people living near their ex-owners or near each other, which can validate connections.
Wills and Probate Records: As mentioned, wills can name enslaved people and who they were given or sold to. Probate inventories (lists of an estate’s assets) often enumerate enslaved persons by name, age, and monetary value. These are critical for making the leap from an anonymous age on a slave schedule to a named individual. Compare the names and ages in probate records to the ages in the slave schedule to identify matches. Many genealogy researchers consider probate and estate documents the most useful companion to slave schedules.
Deeds and Bills of Sale: County deed books sometimes recorded slave transactions just like land transactions. These records might say, for example, “Bill of sale: John Smith sold to William Carter one Negro girl named Sall, age 9, for $500, dated 1848.” If you saw an unnamed 9-year-old female on Smith’s 1850 slave schedule and no longer on Smith’s 1860 (but perhaps on Carter’s 1860), such a deed explains the movement. Deeds can thus track sales and relocations of enslaved people.
Plantation Records: If the family was a large slaveholder, you may find plantation journals, slave lists, birth records, or correspondence in archives. Collections of papers (like those of a prominent family) sometimes include lists of slaves and details like births, deaths, and assignments of tasks. These can be goldmines for information (names, parentage, etc.). University libraries or state archives often hold such collections. They are usually not online, but finding aids may be, and you can contact the archive for access.
Freedmen’s Bureau Records: The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands (Freedmen’s Bureau) was set up after the Civil War (1865–1870s) to assist formerly enslaved people. The Bureau’s records include labor contracts, freedmen’s marriage records, and assistance records. Often in these documents, freed people would mention their former owners’ names. For example, a contract might list “Tony (freedman) – former owner John Boyce.” Or a marriage certificate from 1866 might note the bride and groom were formerly enslaved by so-and-so. These clues can confirm that the Tony who appears as a number on John Boyce’s slave schedule is the same Tony now signing a labor contract in 1866. Searching Freedmen’s Bureau records by the suspected slaveholder’s name can sometimes turn up these references.
Freedman’s Bank Records: The Freedman’s Bank (1865–1874) collected personal data on depositors, many of whom were formerly enslaved. The Freedman’s Bank records often asked the depositor to list their birthplace, and sometimes their former master’s name. If an ancestor opened an account, the application might say something like “Parents: John and Mary, belonged to William Carter.” This is direct evidence linking a person to a slaveholder, and it complements what you inferred from the slave schedule. Even if your ancestor didn’t have an account, checking for individuals with the slaveholder’s surname might lead you to accounts of other freed people from the same plantation who do mention the slaveholder.
Civil War Records: If an enslaved male escaped and joined the Union Army (United States Colored Troops) or a slaveholder’s slaves were emancipated by joining, there could be military records or pension records that contain information. Occasionally, veterans’ pension files include affidavits where the soldier or family member recounts enslavement details (naming owners). While not common, it’s a source to be aware of for male ancestors of a certain age.
1870s and 1880s Documentation: Beyond 1870, later records like 1880 census (which asked for parents’ birthplaces – sometimes “Africa” is recorded if the person had been a former slave of African birth, rare by 1880 but possible if very elderly) and local county histories can provide tidbits. The 1890 Veterans Schedule (if your ancestor fought in the Civil War) might indirectly verify things. Also, the Southern Claims Commission files (1870s) include testimonies of Union loyalists – in a few cases, formerly enslaved people gave depositions about their loyalty or their masters’ loyalty, which can be another puzzle piece.
Modern DNA Testing: While not a historical record, DNA has become a powerful tool to corroborate genealogy. If you suspect a particular slaveholder family, finding DNA matches who descend from that family can strengthen the case that your ancestors were linked to them (often through paternity). In our first case study, if Tony Boyce’s descendants today have DNA matches with descendants of the Boyce slaveholder family, that adds evidence to the paper trail. DNA should be used alongside documents, especially given the complexities of slave era parentage.

Best Practices Summary: Start with the slave schedules to get the basic framework (who might have owned whom, and where). Then switch to named records – wills, deeds, Freedmen’s records, etc. – to confirm identities. Always cross-reference ages, locations, and known relationships. Build timelines for both the enslaved family and the enslaver family to see where they intersect. It’s like assembling a puzzle: the slave schedule gives you edge pieces (the outline), but you need the rest of the pieces from various sources to see the whole picture. By layering information from before (e.g. wills), during (slave schedules), and after (Freedmen’s Bureau, 1870 census) the slavery period, you can often connect an ancestor from slavery to freedom with confidence.

ConclusionConclusion

The 1850 U.S. Census Slave Schedule is a challenging but crucial resource for genealogical research in the slavery era. When used in combination with other historical records and careful analysis, it can help uncover the stories of enslaved individuals and slaveholding families, bringing to light names and narratives that history almost left untold. It requires patience, but the reward – reclaiming your family’s history – is invaluable.

Explore more about 1850 United States Census - Slave ScheduleExplore more about 1850 United States Census - Slave Schedule

1850 United States Federal Census - Slave Schedules record collection at My Heritage
1850 United States Census - Slave Schedules - Blank Form (PDF) - National Archives and Records Administration
IPUMS Full Count Datasets of Slaves and Slaveholders in the United States in 1850 and 1860 - IPUMS

References

↑ Census Information on Individuals. Connecticut State Library

[1] Census Information on Individuals. Connecticut State Library

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