Title Info: 1857, Mason County Census, Mason County Territorial Auditor

These records contain an index and images of the Mason County census recorded in 1857. Information collected in this census includes the names of each member of the household, separated by sex, and the following categories: Age, Married, Single, Nativity, Occupation (Males only), and Foreigner or Citizen (Males only).

According to An Act to Establish the Territorial Government of Washington passed in 1853 by the Thirty-Second Congress of the United States, a census must be performed prior to holding an election for non-appointed members of the territorial legislature. Per An Act to Authorize the Assessors of Each County to Take the Census in the Statues of the Territory of Washington enacted in 1854, each county’s assessor must take a census of their respective county’s inhabitants on or before the first Monday in December each year. The assessor was required to create a complete list of all white male inhabitants, with their ages, occupations, the state or county they are from, whether married or single, and also, whether citizens or aliens. Also, all white female inhabitants with their ages, whether married or single, and the county or state they are from. A separate list of all taxable half-breed Indians, negroes, kanakas, mulattoes, and chinamen was also required.