1847 and 1838 Matches
The Pennsylvania Abolition Society conducted census of the Black Population of Philadelphia in 1838, 1847 and 1856. In the Summer of 2025, we conducted a joint project with the Swarthmore Friends Historical Library to find households that matched between 1838 and 1847.
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To get started, James Truitt from the Friends Historical Library developed a phonetic matching algorithm to find potential matches. Then Intern Mwihaki (Haki) Kiiru, a senior at Cheyney University, investigated and confirmed nearly 400 matches.
This research enables use to understand how life may have changed for households from one decade to the next.
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Under the guidance of Dr. Kirsten Lee, Haki was also able to complete a research project on Black mental health in 1847.
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Use the Matches
The Matches spreadsheet shows households that have been matched across the 1838 census and the 1847 census.
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Geneologists can use this data to find specific familes.
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Researchers can use this data to gauge how family size, wealth and location changed for households over the course of a decade.
