1870 Federal Census, listing Moses and Susan Carver and their former slaves, George and his older brother, James.

In the 1870 Census, George Carver is recorded as being ten years old. Historians generally agree, however, that Carver was not born in 1860 because he is not included in another important document of the period, the 1860 slave schedule. This document includes Carver’s mother and his brother, Jim, but not George. Carver himself often said that he was born “about 1865.” Scholars still debate the date, but generally agree that Carver was most likely born sometime in mid-1865. Since slavery was officially abolished in Missouri on January 11, 1865, Carver was probably born free. Historian Gary R. Kremer has noted that “the uncertainty of Carver’s birth date highlights the fact that African-American slaves in Missouri were regarded as property and that no detailed birth or death information was recorded for them.”