Hi,
I am trying to link a delegate from the Virginia Convention of 1830 and find relevant county level data about his district in IPUMS.
Is it possible
Yes, this should be possible. IPUMS has full-count samples available with individual-level variables dating back to 1850. For pre-1850 data files we have complete count files of county and household level variables, available here. Through both of these sources, it should be possible to identify individual counties. Although it should be noted that it is not possible to use the “Select Cases” tool to limit your data extract to an individual county. This is because the county identifier variables are state-dependent.
As a follow up, I’d like to do something similar - can you explain how to actually get the data? I understand that I can’t just download the one county’s data I am interested in, but I am not a statistician, and I don’t understand how to ask NHGIS data for what I want - which is population numbers, broken down by race, sex, slaveholding status, by whether the residents were free or enslaved are for New Hanover County, North Carolina from 1790-1860. thanks
It sounds like you are using IPUMS NHGIS (note the above question refers to IPUMS USA). In IPUMS NHGIS you can filter throught the tables based on the type of information you are looking for. Then you can select a table and follow the steps for submitting your extract. You will then receive an email with a link that will allow you to download the data. Once you have the data you can limit the table down to a specific geographic area. For more information on using IPUMS NHGIS, see the User’s Guide.