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Locating Genealogical Clues in Census Records LaBelle Woman's Club November 19, 2013

Locating Genealogical Clues in Census Records LaBelle Woman's Club November 19, 2013. Bryan L. Mulcahy Reference Librarian Fort Myers Regional Library 2450 First Street Fort Myers, FL 33901 Tel: 533-4626 Fax; 485-1160 E-Mail: bmulcahy@leegov.com. History of the Federal Census.

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Locating Genealogical Clues in Census Records LaBelle Woman's Club November 19, 2013

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  1. Locating Genealogical Clues in Census RecordsLaBelle Woman's ClubNovember 19, 2013 Bryan L. Mulcahy Reference Librarian Fort Myers Regional Library 2450 First Street Fort Myers, FL 33901 Tel: 533-4626 Fax; 485-1160 E-Mail: bmulcahy@leegov.com

  2. History of the Federal Census 1. Every 10 years since 1790. 2. Original intent: Determine apportionment ofrepresentatives in Congress. 3. Questions added over time to compile data related political, social, economic, and ethnic issues. 4. Records most frequently used by researchers. 5. Public Access: Prohibited for 72 years. 6. 1950 Census: Scheduled for release to the general public on April 1, 2022. 7. 1950 Census Myth. 8. 1940 Census is latest in public domain. 9. Rules for access to later censuses.

  3. Census Enumerator Duties 1. Visit all households within designated enumeration areas. 2. Compile complete listing of all occupants present on the official date of that year’s census. 3. People born after official Census Day were not counted. Persons who died after Census Day were counted as living persons, because they were alive on Census Day. 4. Ask all questions listed on the census schedule and record information. 5. If nobody was present at the time of visitation, census taker was supposed to return as soon as possible.

  4. Designated Federal Census Dates 1790—August 2 (first Monday in August) 1800—August 4 (first Monday in August) 1810—August 6 (first Monday in August) 1820—August 7 (first Monday in August) 1830-1880—June 1 1890—June 2 (first Monday in June) 1900—June 1 1910—April 15 1920—January 1 1930—1940 April 1

  5. Federal Schedules: Population and Non-Population (Supplemental) • Population Schedules (Main Schedule) 1790-1930. • Agricultural/Farm Schedules 1840-1910. • Business, and Manufacturing Schedules (Supplemental) 1810-1880. • Mortality Schedules (Supplemental) 1850-1900.a. Recorded deaths that occurred within the previous 12 months prior to the designated census date.b. Maybe the only recorded source for a death record.c. Only 1850-1880 have survived.

  6. Federal Schedules: Population and Non-Population (Supplemental) 5. Slaves Schedules (Supplemental) 1850-1860 a. Some record the first name of a slave. b. Most name the plantation owner and record the number of slaves numerically. 6. Veterans Schedules (Supplemental) 1840-1890 7. Not all censuses exist for all states. a. In some cases the census was not taken or was lost. b. Most of 1890 census was lost in a fire in Washington, DC in 1921.

  7. How Census Data Becomes Building Blocks for Research 1. Confirm or dispute data uncovered in previous research.2. Open up possible avenues or clues to solve dead-ends or contradictions.3. Identifying other potential record sources. 4. Identify “boarders” or neighbors living in close proximity that later became family members. 5. Identify missing family members who lived in close proximity.

  8. Prime Advantages of Federal Census Records 1. Locating ancestors in a specific time period. 2. Pinpointing a location of residence. 3. Provide the most detailed basic information about ancestors and their families. 4.  Published or online indexes available for almost every census year from 1790-1930. 5.  NOTE: Published indexes prior to 1880 often show the complete list of guidelines census takers were supposed to follow. 6.  Each decade has seen a wider variety of personal questions asked. 7.  The goal was to count as many people as possiblethroughout the country. 8. Some state censuses used federal model for questions.

  9. Provide Links to Additional Record Sources and Localities 1.     Birth Records 2.      Baptismal/Christening/Church Records 3. Marriage Records 4.Death Records 5.Divorce Records 6.Land/Property Records 7.Immigration/Naturalization Records 8.Court Records 9.Military Records 10. School Records

  10. Quality of Information Provided Like any type of genealogical record, accuracy depends on a variety of factors: • Honesty and/or degree of accurate knowledge of the informant concerning dates, places, etc. • Honesty, diligence, & intelligence of census taker. • Was the information given by a family member or a neighbor? • Censuses taken from 1790-1840, only the head of household is listed, and the number of household members are listed in selected age group columns.

  11. Types of Information: Population Schedules • Census schedules from 1850-1940 are the most informative. • Provide the following details for every individual in each household, including boarders:a.  Names of every person in household.b.  Street name in towns and sometimes roads in rural areas.c.  County, city of residence, township or parish, and enumeration district number.d. Ages at the time of the specific census.e. State and County, or Country of birth.

  12. Types of Information: Population Schedules f. Place of birth for parents. g.  Year of immigration and whether naturalized. h.Marriage status and age at first marriage. i. Occupation 3.Value of home and personal belongings.4. Crops they grew and farm animals (when applicable in agricultural censuses).5. Income related information for a business (when applicable on business schedules).

  13. Types of Information: Supplemental Schedules 1.  Gather special information for administrative and community planning. 2.  Used on federal, state, and local levels. 3. Some list people by name, others compiled information based on economic characteristics of businesses and/or land owners. 4. Provide clues about persons, families or communities in terms of educational, economic, occupational data, etc. 5. May offer clues to additional information in records such as vital, land/property, school, tax, and court/probate records.

  14. Organization of Federal Censuses 1. Census schedules are organized by census year. 2. Within each year, they are arranged by name of state, then alphabetically by name of county. 3. Researchers must know the county where an ancestor lived during the specific census year. 4. If a researcher does not know the county an ancestor lived in but can narrow it down to a state,they can try using a print or online index from a state census, or from 1880 and beyond, utilize the Soundex. 5. Arrangement of names on a census page is in order of visitation by the census taker or whenfamilies came to designated census taking facility. 

  15. Locating Federal Census Data 1.  Online databases such as Ancestry.com (subscription), Ancestry Library Edition, Family Search, and Heritage Quest all of which are available free on the Lee County Library System homepage.2.  Any branch of the National Archives. 3.  Most state libraries and archives.4.  Many medium to large public libraries, historical,and genealogical society/ethnic repositories. 5.  Internet sites such as USGenWeb under the stateof interest and Cyndislist-U.S. Census.

  16. Research Tips 1.  Begin with the most current census year in your ancestor’s lifetime and work backwards. 2.  As parents aged, circumstances may have caused them to end up living in the household of one of the children.3.  Do not assume that if your ancestor does not appear in an index for the locality where they should be, that they were not there.

  17. Research Tips 4.  Be cognizant of the official census date.  a. Time of year, weather conditions, and region, may have impacted how quickly and accurately the census was compiled.  b. Most immigrants and many urban dwellers rented. c. Leases often expired at the middle or end of January and April.  d. These people often moved yearly to avoid paying higher rents and were missed. e. Freak spring time snow storms or flash floods causedby melting snow from higher than average winter snow, summer floods, tornadoes, etc. may have delayed the ability of census takers to visit areas.

  18. Research Tips 5. Due to handwriting issues, spelling errors, name changes, difficult ethnic names and pronunciations, accents, etc., prepared to search under multiple spelling variations. 6. Some experts recommend looking at the enumeratorinstructions for each census year prior to searching.7. Will provide insight on what they were supposed to do and often provide clues as to what specific pieces of information to look for).8. Our handout titled Genealogical Research Using U.S.Census Data  provides a detailed discussion covering census research including the questions listed on each enumeration by decade.9. Place of residence meant the house or usual lodging place of a person. However, this may cause confusion because entries depended on the individual census takers interpretation.

  19. Research Tips 10.   Anyone who was temporarily absent, on a journey, or was staying with someone at the time of enumeration was recorded as a member of the family or a boarder in the household of the family where they were staying on the census day.            a. Students in college, academies, or schools, whenabsent from families. (Usually identified at the school or household as a “border”. b. Persons on board vessels, accidentally or temporarilyin port, those whose only residence was the vessel itself. c. Sailors residing in a boarding or lodging house.

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