Tabulating Machines

Abstract

In the latter half of the nineteenth century, as the American population continued to grow and ever more detailed population statistics were demanded, the standard manual techniques of tabulating and analyzing the ten-yearly U.S. National Census returns became more and more inadequate. The earliest mechanical assistance was provided by the Seaton machine which was introduced for the 1870 Census and used extensively during the 1880 Census [l]. This was a simple device, consisting of a set of rollers on which Census tabulation forms could be mounted, which assisted the Census clerks by bringing corresponding sections of several forms into convenient physical juxtaposition. A Dr. John Shaw Billings was in charge of the planning of the work on the vital statistics for the 1880 Census. Also involved in this Census, but in a much more junior capacity, was Herman Hollerith who in 1879 at the age of 19 had been appointed an assistant to Professor William Trowbridge of Columbia University, a Chief Special Agent in the Census Office.