What's What in the United States Census?

As a professional researcher I often get questions from those who are just getting started, as well as from fellow genealogists who've been at it just as long as I have. These questions come by way of emails, Facebook messages, texts, and phone calls. One thing I've noticed, consistently, is that I'm often asked about where information about an ancestor might be found, and the answer is a simple, "In the ____ Census".

The United States Federal Census has been taken every ten years, since 1790. Most people know that. However, what many fail to realize is that no two Census years are identical in the information that was collected. As researchers, it's so important to familiarize ourselves with the questions that were asked in each census year; and, not only that, but to also be aware of the many supplemental census documents that are available from various years. Being armed with this information will move us forward in our research in a more informed way, and can help to eliminate the frustration of trying to find certain valuable nuggets of information which might be just one quick click away.

For a very comprehensive listing of what is included in each census year, as well as what other schedules (such as slave, mortality, agricultural and more) are available, please visit this excellent source from The Family History Daily: The Ultimate Quick Reference Guide to the U.S. Census for Genealogy  Although I did find one error - that the 1850 and 1860 Slave Schedules are exactly the same - this guide includes a wealth of information about what is included in each enumeration, for each census and supplemental schedule. Though all data collected in census documents needs to be corroborated from other sources, the U.S. Census is a valuable starting point for most who engage in genealogical research.

Additional sources for understanding census rules and enumeration can be found at these links:

• United States Census Bureau
• National Archives and Records Association
• FamilySearch

Happy researching!

Renate

Permalink to this post: https://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2019/03/whats-in-census-and-when.html

*All sources are linked in the post, above.

1940 Census Blogger Ambassador



     In just 23 days, the 1940 Census will be released to the public!  Those of us in the genealogy community have counted down the years, then months, and now days for this event.  I can imagine we'll all get plenty of rest on the on the night of April 1st, so that we can be at the ready at 9:00 a.m. the next morning, when the long awaited documents are released. (Or, on the other hand, some might stay up all night in anticipation!)
     When FamilySearch first announced it's partnership with the National Archives to release the 1940 Census, and open it up to indexers, I signed up right away. I was already a registered indexer for FamilySearch at the time, but this was going to be a special project, which I just had to be a part of.  But now, I've made an even greater commitment to the work that will be involved in bringing easier access to the to the public because a few weeks ago, I signed up to be a 1940 Census "Blogger Ambassador". 
      Being a Blogger Ambassador means that I will write about my experiences using the 1940 Census, and I will share how the it effects my research.  That 's all that's required, and I would have been doing that, anyway, so I figured, "Why not be an ambassador?" :)
     There is so much excitement being generated about this census.  Personally, I'm impressed by the amount of information that the enumerators were required to gather.  Also, I think it's great that we'll get to see who actually provided the information (for the first time), which could help us to infer the probable validity of much of it.  We'll also get information about where families lived 5 years prior to the census date, educational levels obtained, and more!  You can click here to see detailed questions and enumerator instructions for the 1940 Census.

I look forward to sharing the journey of exploring this census with all of my readers.  If you haven't already, please consider signing up to help with the indexing. It as easy as visiting the official 1940 Census site and signing up by giving just your email address and your name.  You even get to pick the state(s) that you are most interesteing working on! The more hands "on deck", the sooner we'll have a fully searchable digital index to go with these precious documents!

Renate

A census-taker interviews a woman for the 1940 Census

(picture courtesy of census.gov)

https://the1940census.com/