Most genealogists know of the standard population census, but not all are aware that that the federal government administered other, more specialized censuses. These include, but are not limited to, veterans (i.e., lists of pensioners in 1840 and 1890), mortality (i.e., an accounting of those who died in the year leading up to the general population census, 1850-1880), slaves (mostly just age, sex and color, with only some names, 1850-1860), Indians (1840-1942), and agricultural and manufacturing schedules (1840-1910). If you think your ancestors fell into any of these groups, it's definitely worth a look, particularly if you need assistance getting over a brick wall in your research. See The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy edited by Arlene Eakle and Johni Cerny for detailed information on these special censuses.