Searching in the Census with a Surname
This post was written by Lorel Kapke about her personal research.
Searching in the Census with a Surname; can’t find ‘em but you KNOW they are there!
Searching the census for my great grandfather and family by surname in a small town would prove to be challenging. They are listed in the 1905 State Census and the 1920 Unites States Census. But where were they listed in the 1910 Census? I know they did not move viewing surrounding census records and other documents. Referring back to the (SYS folders) censuses (see attachment) I quickly referred to previous and future censuses for the street names and neighbors who lived nearby. Paging through one or two census pages I found something I never thought existed, a census included “location, relation, personal description, nativity, citizenship, occupation, education, ownership of home, but did not include names at all! Written on the left side of the census page was the following message:
“Sheet made from cards already punched by order of Mr. Hunt- Feb 9 -11, Original sheet lost after cards were punched”.
Fortunately, they did offer enough information to peace the puzzle together.
I found thre
e people living in the correct location, ages, birth year, place, race, gender, marital status, father and mothers birth place all added up to a match that is difficult to ignore.
Don’t let surnames get in the way, if you have your files in order, a simple review of an organized data can guide you through your brick wall!
Follow Friday – August 17, 2012
Here are a few posts we enjoyed recently.
Midwestern Microhistory’s Is An Obituary an Original Source? Does It Matter?
MoSGA Messenger Texas State Library and Archives Online Collections
The In-Depth Genealogist – Check out their new State Resource pages. New states are being added weekly!
What blog posts have you enjoyed recently? Which ones gave you an AH-HA moment to aid your research? Please share in the comments below.
© 2012 Lorel Kapke, 19201 Sonoma Hwy. #341, Sonoma, CA 95476-5413
Wisdom Wednesday – Share Your 1940 Census Wisdom
The 1940 census was released a month ago today. Have you located some of your family? Have you used Sort Your Story to organize and document this information? How did you enter the information? Simply the facts or did you elaborate and tell a story with the document information?
Do you use Sort Your Story to create family stories or books? What has your experience been?
Please share your experiences with us. We’d love to know how you are using Sort Your Story to document your family’s history!
© 2012 Lorel Kapke, 19201 Sonoma Hwy. #341, Sonoma, CA 95476-5413
Wisdom Wednesday – Review Your Information
As the 1940 Census approaches, it seems like everyone is gearing up and counting down the days, hours, and minutes until the release. Are you counting down? Are you ready for the release? Have you taken some time recently to go back through your family’s information to make sure you are prepared?
Take an hour (or more) to go back through your documents and notes. Reviewing our research notes, plans, and records, from time to time, gives us a new perspective. We see facts with fresh eyes and often pick up on details we missed before or that didn’t seem to apply. How often have you gone back to an ancestor’s records and said to yourself, “wow I can’t believe I missed that detail when I first looked at this!” I think all of us have done that at some point.
You have about 18 days left to prepare. So what are you waiting for? Pull out those paper records, look at your digital records, examine your family tree and pull all that together in your Sort Your Story software. Let us know if you found something important you missed before in the comments below.
© 2012 Lorel Kapke, 19201 Sonoma Hwy. #341, Sonoma, CA 95476-5413
Related articles
- Tuesday’s Tip – Guest Post from Lorel Kapke of Sort Your Story (kidsgenealogy.generationsofstories.net)
