Secretary of State John Forsyth appointed William Augustus Weaver as the first "superintending clerk of the census" in that year.

Weaver and his successors oversaw the technical aspects of the census, including designing questionnaires, and more closely managed the tabulation process.

The superintendent oversaw the entire census-taking process, and usually held the position from a year before the census until the final tabulations had been published.

He set the standard for many directors of the U.S. Census Bureau over the next hundred years by focusing on external issues such as congressional testimony and leaving technical operations to the experts.

The Census director must also "have a demonstrated ability in managing large organizations and experience in the collection, analysis, and use of statistical data."