Description

The records of the New York State Census of 1790 were almost completely destroyed in a fire that consumed the New York State Library in March of 1911. Although a goodly portion of the Albany County census of 1790 was indeed burned, about half of the names for Albany County (just under 4,000) did survive. Interestingly, hundreds of those names differ from the listing in the federal census of 1790, underlining the importance of the state census to the genealogist. Professor Scott's compilation is a transcription of the rescued portion of the Albany County census and gives, first, the name of the head of household as it appears in the state census and, immediately after it, in brackets, the reading in the federal census-an arrangement of uncommon advantage to the genealogist. The names in the state census are here listed alphabetically within each town or within each ward in the city of Albany.