The Georgia Constitution of 1798 provided for the taking of a State Census “within two years, and within every subsequent term of seven years thereafter” for the purpose of reapportioning the State House of Representatives.  Authority for taking a census in certain years may be found in the Georgia Laws.

Like the pre-1850 U.S. Census records, State Census records name the head of the household and include only statistical data on other members of the household.  Only a few state Census Reports survive. 

For information on the Federal Census, please see Using the Federal Census for Georgia.

State Census Reports at the Georgia Archives

[The microfilm drawer and box number is in parentheses.]

• 1800: Oglethorpe (#47/18; #71/36)
• 1827: Taliaferro (#37/46; #109/9)
• 1838: Laurens (#10/65), Lumpkin (#146/25), Newton (#10/65), Tattnall (#10/65)
• 1845: Chatham (#186/26), Dooly (#10/65), Forsyth (#10/65), Warren (#10/65)
• 1852: Jasper (#10/25), Chatham (#81/4), City of Augusta (Richmond Co.) (#160/5)
• 1859: Terrell (#144/7), Columbia (#91/22)

State Census Reports at the Hargrett Library, Special Collections, University of Georgia

The following state census reports are from the County Files, Telamon Cuyler Collection, and abstracted in either the Georgia Genealogical Magazine (GGM) or the Northwest Georgia Historical and Genealogical Society (NGHGS)

1834

• Cass (Bartow) County: GGM, No. 90 (263-264) and NGHGS, Vol. 12, No. 4 (26-27)
• Cherokee County: GGM, No. 84 (93-94) and NGHGS, Vol. 12, No. 4 (28-29)
• Cobb County: GGM, No. 89 (171-172) and NGHGS, Vol. 12, No. 4 (30-31)
• Forsyth County: GGM, No. 86 (259-261) and NGHGS, Vol. 12, No. 4 (32-33)
• Gilmer County: GGM, No. 91 (30) and NGHGS, Vol. 12, No. 4 (35)
• Lumpkin County: GGM, No. 87 (28-32)
• Murray County: GGM, No. 91 (29-30) and NGHGS, Vol. 12, No. 4 (34-35)
• Union County: NGHGS, Vol. 12, No. 2 (11-12)

1838

• Paulding County: NGHGS, Vol. 12, No. 4 (36-37)

Secondary Sources

Censuses for Georgia Counties: Taliaferro 1827 [School], Lumpkin 1838 [State], and Chatham 1845 [State].  Atlanta: R. J. Taylor Foundation, 1979.  (Census F 292 .T23 C46)

Indexes to Seven State Census Reports for Counties in Georgia 1838-1845. Atlanta: R. J. Taylor Foundation, 1975.  (F 285 .T63)  [Note: This book includes 1838 (Laurens, Newton, Tattnall) and 1845 (Dooly, Forsyth, Warren).]

Lainhart, Ann S. State Census Records. [Baltimore]: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1992.  (HA 218 .L25)  [Note: This book lists extant census records and their respective locations for the following years: 1798, 1800, 1810, 1824, 1827, 1831, 1834, 1838, 1845, 1852, 1853, 1859, 1865, 1879, and 1890.  Also lists the availability of a few colonial census records and state school census records.]