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This census was abstracted from microfilm roll M593-1133 obtained from the National Archives in Washington, D.C. No attempt was made to correct mistakes in the spelling of the names thus you should look for all conceivable spelling variations.

Enumerators of the 1870 census were instructed to record the names of every person in the household. Added to this, enumerators were presented with printed instructions, which account for the greater degree of accuracy compared with earlier censuses. Several new elements appeared in the 1870 census from previous census records. Slavery had been abolished and all African-Americans were named for the first time; also included were Chinese and Native Americans. Reconstruction queries regarding citizenship and voting were added. Greater precision in stating age was provided for, and two queries called for specification of months. Foreign birth of parents was noted.  Enumerators were asked to include the following categories in the census: name; age at last birthday (if a child was under one year of age, months of age were to be stated as fractions, such as 1/12); sex; color; profession; occupation or trade of every male and female; value of real estate; place of birth; whether mother and father were of foreign birth; whether born or married within the year and the month; those who could not read; those who could not write; whether deaf, dumb, blind, or insane or "idiotic". No relationships were shown between members of a household. The categories allowed Congress to determine persons residing in the United States for collection of taxes and the appropriation of seats in the House of Representatives.

The official enumeration day of the 1870 census was 1 June 1870. All questions asked were supposed to refer to that date. The 1870 census form called for the dwelling houses to be numbered in the order of visitation; families numbered in order of visitation; and the name of every person whose place of abode on the first day of June 1870 was with the family.

The enumerator for this Currituck census was Walter S. Harrison.  While the pages were mostly clear and free from tears or water damage, Mr. Harrison had poor handwriting and tended to run his letters together so often that it was hard to discern what they were.  He put few, if any, marks in the "Attended School" or "Can Not Read/Write" columns.  He tended to abbreviate certain given names like Elizabeth or Benjamin and in some places it looked as though he had abbreviated the surname as well.  Sometimes I took a stab at trying to figure out what the name was but when I was unsure I put a question mark beside it.  It would behoove the researcher to take a look at the microfilm for yourself if you're dubious about my abstraction.

Twenty columns were used in the original census but I chose to leave some of them out in order to get everything on one page. The columns I used are:

1) House/Family - numbered in the order of visitation
2) The name of every person whose place of abode on 1 June 1870 was in this family
3) Age at last birthday - If under 1 year then the months were given in fractions, i.e., 3/12.  Note: The months January-May were in 1870; June-December were 1869.
4) Sex - Male was indicated with an "m"; female with an "f"
5) Race - White was indicated with a "w", Black with a "b", Mulatto with an "m", Chinese with a "c" and Indian with an "i"
6) Occupation - the trade of each person, male or female
7) Value of Real Estate (RE)
8) Value of Personal Estate (Per.)
9) Birth Place - naming the state or territory of the U.S.; or the country, if of foreign birth
10) If born within the year - the month was stated
11) If married within the year - the month was stated
12) Attended school within the year
13) Cannot Read (CR)
14) Cannot Write (CW)

• Crawford Twp. - pages 102a - 113b then skips to 232a - 243a (pg. 243b is blank)
• Fruitville Twp. - pages 244a - 251a (pg. 251b is blank)
• Moyock Twp. - pages 252a - 267a (pg. 267b is blank)
• Nags Head Twp. - pages 268a - 271b
• Poplar Branch Twp. - pages 272a - 286a (pg. 286b is blank)

Below is a table with links to each page in the 1870 census. A full name index was also generated so it would be easier for you to find the names of interest. Just look on the index, find the name you're interested in, then click on the corresponding link to that particular page.

TIP: Don't forget that you can find any word on a current web page you're viewing by pressing CTRL+F. In the little pop-up box simply type the word to look for and press ENTER.

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