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Online Research with U.S. Census Records
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Online Research with U.S. Census Records
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Created : 13 November 2007 |
Online Census
Research 13 November 2007
WARREN GENEALOGY GUIDE Today you will learn about…
Background of the US Federal Census BRIEF HISTORY
on 1 April 2012 What can the census tell you? From 1850 to 1930, various details are provided for all individuals in each household, such as:
Questions were added, changed or removed from each census
Biographical Outline •Form available from Family Tree Magazine website at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/forms/download.html •Use this form to list the basic facts (birth, marriage, death) about the ancestor you’re searching for in chronological order. Include where an event took place (city, county, state), then figure out what US census that ancestor should appear in and approximate age at each census. Start with the most recent census and work backwards •1930 is the most current census available •Blank forms are available online for each census year at Family Tree Magazine •Even if you save each census image on a flash drive, use the blank form to copy your family’s information. WHY – because it helps you not to overlook any of the information provided, plus it’s easier to read both handwriting and column titles. Soundex •The Soundex system is a method of indexing names in the 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920 US Census. In it surnames are coded by the way they sound rather than how they are spelled. •Soundex can also aid genealogists by identifying spelling variations for a given surname. •Your Michigan driver’s license uses the Soundex code. The Soundex Code System •The Soundex
code consists of a letter (always the first letter of the surname) and
three numbers. Numbers are assigned according to the following Soundex coding
guide: • 1 .............. B P F V • 2 .............. C S G J K Q X Z • 3 .............. D T • 4 .............. L • 5 .............. M N • 6 .............. R Soundex Code System (continued) •In coding your
surname, disregard these letters: • Double letters are treated as one letter. • On short names, if there are less than three numbers, add zeroes to the end of the coding. • On long names, once you have three digits, disregard any additional ones. •If your surname has a prefix such as van, Van, Von, D', de, De, dela, Di, du, or Le, code it both with and without the prefix because it might be listed under either code. Mc and Mac are not considered prefixes in the Soundex Coding System (continued) •Your surname may have different letters that are side-by-side but have the same number on the Soundex coding guide. For example, in the surname Jackson, 2 is the number for C, K and S. In such cases, these letters are treated as one letter. Jackson is Soundexed as J250, not J222. Roots Web’s Surname to Soundex Converter •This is the easy way to search for your soundex number, or to verify that you figured out the code correctly. J 1930 census •Heritage Quest has only name indexed 5 states – Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Texas and Virginia. •Can browse within a state by county. •No wildcard or truncation searching •TIP - When you find your family, check ten listings ahead and behind – often other extended family lived next door or right close by. Heritage Quest Online
Logon from home using your Michigan Driver’s License or State ID number Search for: KNECHT, Jacob – 1920, 1910, 1900, 1880, 1870 Obtaining EDs for the Census in One Step •ED = Enumeration District wStarting with the 1880 census, schedules began listing the area that an enumerator covered in taking the census. These are called EDs — enumeration districts. To find your ancestors in a particular census first determine the ED in which they resided at that time. Ascertain the street address by searching for your urban dwellers in city directories Watch out for these pitfalls – Pitfall #1 Believing Everything You Read
Pitfall #2 Who’s the Daddy
Step-children are often mistakenly put under the step-fathers’ last name. Pitfall #3 Two wives, same name •Assuming the children are those of the wife listed. They may be, but often are not. Men have been known to marry women with same given name. Always search for marriage records. Re-marriage was frequent as many women died in childbirth, leaving the father with young children to care for. The solution was to find a wife — and quickly. Pitfall #4 Family or Commune? •Assuming… that all the people listed in the families on the 1790 to 1840 censuses are related. They could have been farmhands or miscellaneous relatives living with the family. Often several families resided together. Pitfall #5 Visiting parents •Assuming… when a head-of-household is no longer enumerated with the family that he or she is dead. The "old folks" may have gone to live with a son or daughter. Always search for them in the homes of their children.. Pitfall #6 Misleading death information •Don't assume a person was still living at the time of the census. The enumerator was instructed to take down the names of the family as it was composed on the official date of the census, not the day of the visit.
Official census dates were: •First Monday in August for 1790-1820 schedules •June 1 for 1830-1880 •First Monday in June for 1890 (most of this schedule was destroyed by a fire in 1921 — a card index to the 6,160 names on the surviving schedules is available on two rolls of National Archives film No. M496) •June 1 for 1900 •April 15 for 1910 •January 1 for 1920 •April 1 for 1930
Pitfall #7 Pay attention to location •Enumerations were generally done by townships. Pay attention to the township in which you find your ancestors. When searching in unindexed records, or if you can't find your ancestors in an index, locate a map that shows the townships, then check the census for that township. Pitfall #8 Errors are everywhere •Use indexes and Soundexes with caution. There are errors and omissions in all of them. If you know (or strongly suspect) your family was living in a particular county, read the entire census for that locality. Pitfall #9 Don’t ignore other household members •Looking for a specific person can occasionally be difficult for a variety of reasons. Focusing only on that person may make the search needlessly more difficult than necessary. •If you know the names of other household or family members, consider searching for them as well. For one of a myriad of reasons, they may be easier to find than the person for whom you are actually “looking.” Pitfall #10 Do You Know All the Name Variants? •Searching often requires looking for names besides the “right” one. Elizabeth may have been enumerated as Betty, Lizzie, or any of a number of alternate names based upon her first name. Names in the census could easily have been based upon middle names and if the researcher is unaware of the middle name, searching can be even more difficult. •Consider making a list of all spelling variants for your surname, including variations based upon phonetics and handwriting. Also bear in mind that in some cases individuals were enumerated using only initials. •Are you absolutely certain where your ancestors were living at the time of the 1920 census? If your ancestors were extremely migratory, they may be in an unexpected place. It is possible that they lived in a place for such a short time that living family members have no recollection of the residence. Even ancestors who tended to “stay put” may have lived in a different location for a short time. What if you can’t find them? •The Soundex is a boon to most researchers, but not all of our ancestors appear in them. Consider these possibilities:
w They could have been overlooked or
misread by w The enumerator may have misspelled the person’s name so badly that the Soundex was thrown off. (Example – Daniel C. Graves is actually Daniel Seagraves) w The enumerator may have been given incorrect information. Census research internationally •Canada 1901 - http://automatedgenealogy.com/census/index.jsp •Norwegian (How to trace your family history in Norway) Click on census returns http://digitalarkivet.uib.no/sab/howto.html •British Census Information http://www.staffs.ac.uk/schools/humanities_and_soc_sciences/census/cebs.htm Use the WorldGenWeb http://www.worldgenweb.org/ to check other countries for census information
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