Alexander County IL Archives History - Books .....Chapter XXV The Growth Of The Three States 1910 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com September 20, 2007, 2:20 pm Book Title: A History Of The City Of Cairo Illiniois CHAPTER XXV THE GROWTH OF THE THREE STATES THE taking of the census every ten years by the general government has come to embrace so many things besides an enumeration of the inhabitants of the several states and territories that it seems there is now no telling to what it will not hereafter extend. It is to be hoped that it will not become so encumbered that its usefulness will be materially impaired. Whatever it was or has been, it ought now to be fairly reliable, at least as to the numbering of the people. Few of us know or appreciate what the work of its making has become. It is now one of the great administrative features of the government, and it is to be regretted that so few people care to know of the wonderful amount and variety of very useful information the census reports afford them. We here give the population of the three adjacent states of Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri, beginning with the year 1810, when Illinois and Missouri were territories. We give this chiefly to show the comparative conditions of these great divisions of our country in 1810 and 1820. It will be seen that Kentucky had become quite a populous district of country when Illinois was almost uninhabited, and that the Ohio River was the outer and almost abrupt boundary of our civilization. YEAR KENTUCKY ILLINOIS MISSOURI 1775 300 1784 30,000 I790 73,679 1800 220,955 2,458 1810 406,511 12,282 20,845 1820 564,317 55,211 66,586 1830 687,917 157,445 140,455 1840 779,828 476,183 383,702 1850 982,405 851,470 682,044 i860 1,155,684 1,711,951 1,182,012 1870 1,321,011 2,539,891 1,721,295 1880 1,648,690 3,077,871 2,168,380 1890 1,858,635 3,826,351 2,679,184 1900 2,147,174 4,821,550 3,106,665 1910 POPULATION OF ALEXANDER COUNTY AND CAIRO YEAR COUNTY CAIRO 1820 626 1830 1,300 (supposed) 1840 3,313 2,000 1850 2,484 242 1860 4,707 2,188 1870 10,564 6,267 1880 14,809 9,011 1890 16,563 10,324 1900 19,384 12,566 1910 In 1890 and 1900, on the announcement of the city's population the people of the city were very much surprised and disappointed, and in both cases succeeded in having the census of the place retaken. In both instances four or five hundred were added to the number first found; but still the additional number was regarded as much too small. This of course, is a very common occurrence throughout the country; but as to the city of Cairo it is probable an unusually large number of residents are absent from the city on the rivers and in the railroad service. About the close of the year 1864, the city council ordered a census of the city's population to be taken, and for that purpose appointed William J. Yost, whom many of us well remember as then and afterwards one of the city's best citizens and whose character and standing assured the people of the doing of the work with proper care. On the 14th day of January, 1865, he filed his report which was sworn to by him and is now found on record in Journal C, pp. 503-505 of the city records. He says he did not himself go above 34th Street or along the levees because of the bad roads, but as to those places not actually visited, he had consulted others and made careful estimates. The following shows the result of his work. WHITE COLORED TOTAL 1st ward 1552 447 1999 2nd ward 2328 567 2895 3rd ward 934 442 1376 4th ward 1672 627 2299 Totals 6486 2083 8569 WHITE AND COLORED POPULATION OF THE COUNTY IN 185O AND SINCE YEAR WHITE COLORED TOTAL 1850 2,464 20 2,484 i860 4,652 55 4,707 1870 8,268 2,296 10,564 1880 10,239 4,568 14,807 1890 11,672 4,891 16,563 1900 13,084 6,300 19,384 1910 These figures show the relative increase in the white and colored people since the year 1860. By the Federal census the population in 1860 was 2,188. Yost's census January 14, 1865, made it 8,569, an increase of 6,381 in four years. It will be remembered, however, that our four years of war had added largely to our population; and that in 1870 the population had fallen from 8,569 in January, 1865, to 6,267, a decrease of 2,302. Additional Comments: Extracted from: A HISTORY OF THE CITY OF CAIRO ILLINOIS BY JOHN M. LANSDEN WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS CHICAGO R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY 1910 COPYRIGHTED, 1910 BY JOHN M. LANSDEN The Lakeside Press R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY CHICAGO File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/alexander/history/1910/ahistory/chapterx139gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ilfiles/ File size: 6.0 Kb