Historical U.S. census and vital records

12.9 million persons

Geography:

Publications:

• Fifth census, or, Enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States, 1830: to which is prefixed, a schedule of the whole number of persons within the several districts of the United States, taken according to the acts of 1790, 1800, 1810, 1820: published by authority of an act of Congress
• Fifth census; or, Enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States as corrected at the Department of State. 1830. Pub. by the authority of an act of Congress, under the direction of the Secretary of State

17 million persons

Geography: Add Michigan, Arkansas.

Publications:

• Statistics of the United States of America, as collected and returned by the marshals of the several judicial districts, under the ... act for taking the sixth census; corrected at the Department of State. June 1, 1840. Published by authority of an act of Congress
• Sixth census or enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States, as corrected at the Department of state, in 1840. Published, by authority of an Act of Congress, under the direction of the secretary of state. Sixth census or enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States 
• Compendium of the enumeration of the inhabitants and statistics of the United States as obtained at the Department of State, from the returns of the sixth census, by counties and principal towns ... to which is added an abstract of each preceding census
• Census of pensioners for revolutionary or military services, with their names, ages, and places of residence, as returned by the marshals of the several judicial districts, under the act for taking the sixth census
• Progress of the United States in population and wealth in fifty years, as exhibited by the decennial census

23.2 million persons

Geography: Add Florida, Texas, Iowa, Wisconsin. Territories of California, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah.

Publications:  

• The seventh census of the United States, 1850 [electronic resource]
• Statistical View of the United States, Being a Compendium of the Seventh Census
• Progress of the United States in population & wealth in fifty years. With an appendix, containing an abstract of the census of 1850

31.4 million persons with 4 million slaves

Geography: Add California, Minnesota, Oregon.

Publications: 

• Preliminary report on the eighth census
• Population of the United States in 1860
• Statistics of the United States, (including mortality, property, &c.) in 1860; compiled from the original returns and being the final exhibit of the eighth census, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior. 
• The United States on the eve of the Civil War: as described in the 1860 census.
• Note: the census of slaves and slaveholders was published in the agriculture volume, Agriculture of the United States in 1860.  There is a table for each state, “Slaveholders and Slaves,” listing all the counties and for each total slaveholders, total slaves, and then by groups from 1 slave to 1000+ slaves.