Class 2- February 20, 2001
What's Next?
The last class was on the "W"s of genealogy. Who,What, Where,Why, When. These five "W"s are the basis of most documents, from birth certificates to written novels. We discussed the first steps or acts that are the beginning basis of research. Who= who you are looking for- What= the type of search- Where is either physical location of repository of information- Why= determination of fact- When= periods of time or dates of various actions relevent to an event- recorded or not recorded .
I assume that you have a record keeping system set up by now and are diligent in keeping it current, and all things in their proper places, entered on the proper charts,. or on the computer program.
After acquiring as much information from your family and family records, it's time to move on the other sources of information. Compiled and Primary or Original Records. Always search compiled records first and then look for original records.
Compiled records include the Federal Census. The only portion of the census that is considered original is the locale and date. All other information is compiled. The date and location is recorded by the census taker, all other information recorded by him is secondary, he has no first hand knowledge of the relationship or event.
Generally speaking, the most common source of information and the most widely used in beginning research are census records. I feel that census records are an index to the world. In the US, census keeping began in 1790. The current available 1790 census is actually a re-constructed tax list, because a majority of the census was destroyed by the British in the War of 1812. the Federal census has been taken every ten years since that time. Some states also had off year census.
States included in the 1790 census were: Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia. Thr ONLY NAMED person is the head of the household. The remainder of the census contained: Free white males of 16 years and up, including head of family; Free white males under 16; Free white females, including head of family , All other free persons and Slaves. as the census years progressed, the questions increased, and in 1850 all persons living in a household were shown by name, age and other information.[ I will post to the website, a complete listing of the years and what was asked by year.]
The Federal census for all census years contains many errors, ommissions and mistakes due to a number of things.
The earlier the census, the fewer questions were asked. The first 1790 census only asked 7 questions. Parts of the census were lost or destroyed. Many census takers were poorly trained or didn't take their responsibility seriously. Families were sometimes left off the census because they were away visiting relatives or they lived in multi-family dwellings and were overlooked. Some census takers didn't follow directions and left off answers for some of the questions. If adults were not home, sometimes questions were asked of small children or neighbors or the enumerator guessed the answers himself. Incorrect answers were given due to poor memory or lack of understanding the question. The census taker didn't find anyone home and didn't go back. The census taker couldn't spell properly and was hard of hearing. Training was poor in most places, and in particular, the 1870 census is very bad, particularly in the southern states, due to reconstruction days following the Civil War.
Regardless of the errors, this is still the best finding tool we have available. In starting your search of the federal census, currently the 1920 census is the latest one available.[ 1930 due out this year, information collected from individuals becomes available to the public after 72 years ] Prior to that is the 1910 and the 1900, as starting points.
By having charted all of your information, you know where you should start. You have the first or given name, the surname and the state of birth. Suppose you have a ancestor/ancestress born in 1895, that person will be shown [ or should be shown] on the 1900 census as a five year old child living in some one's household. if you are using the 1900 census, the easiest way to search it is by using what is known as the soundex system.
The Soundex or Miracode System was begun during the Depression of the 1930's and actually was a WPA Project.The workers took the census records, one county at a time, and wrote out a filing card for each household, naming all people listed in the census. Included on the card are: name, age, location, birthday and relationship to head of household for every person in every household. Not all information on the original census is given, but enough to identify the members of each household. Every surname was given a code (see Soundex code). These codes give numerical value to each letter of the alphabet. From this soundex card, you can go to the actual census page. the 1880?, 1900 and 1910 have all been "soundexed" There is a guide to coding for all surnames, if you do not understand it or do not have it, it will posted by next Monday on the genchat lessons website.
There are printed census indices for most of the other years, with the exception of 1870. Remember, this is a general statement, I do not know all of the states for which the 1870 HAS NOT been indexed. I'm sure that there are some states, or counties within that given state that have been indexed.
I recently read that the 1880 had been entirely soundexed, but I don't know if this is correct. I suspect it is not,at one time, the 1880 Soundex covered only families with children ten years old or younger. other families were not indexed in the Soundex System.
Heritage Quest says that 1910 Miracode and Soundex indexes were created for only 21 states. These are: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
Another source states that the Soundex was created for all states. I haven't checked this out, but I will this next week.
As you search for families on the census, look for the neighbors on both sides. Look five to ten families before and that many after the family listing.Frequently, there are relatives living near by.
There are many clues in the later census, date and place of birth, marriage within the year,, number of children born to this woman, are they immigrants and what year naturalized, place of parents birth, property and occupation, and other things.
All of these things are clues to further research. When you find a family on the census, what have you found?
You have found the location in a county within a state. You have found the person that was the head of the household at that given time. The people living within the household. In some census returns, the relationship of each person to the head of the household. possibly, the place of birth of each person, their occupation, the birth place of their parents and their ecomnic status. You have found the WHO, [all that were there] the WHAT [occupation] and the WHERE.[county and state].From this you might go to the WHY and the WHEN.
Searching for census records on the internet is often fruitless. There are a lot of transcribed records available through Rootsweb or Ancestry.com [paid subscription] and a couple of other sites, but nothing can replace a library or a Fmaily History Center at this point. ancestry.com promises to put online, all census, scanned images of the orginal pages, but this is a long time taking project. Currently, this what they have online.
1790 U.S. Census - 1900 U.S. Census (partial, browseable only) - 920 U.S. Census (partial, browseable only) and
Civil War Pension Index [for Federal, not Confederate pensions]
The Rootsweb files are excellent, but they need transcribers but not everyone has a microfilm reader or can purchase the necessary information to transcribe for them. So your search is limited to the available sources online.
The next problem with scanned images online is size- a computer screen is not really adequate to see the image properly.
Other transcribed census online is mostly alphabetized, and not in family groups, and mostly just an index with page number references, which means you go to a library or Family History Center to continue the search.
This is just the first census step you will take. Finding your ancestry in the census is the door to other research. I've heard remarks that they "just weren't there". They may not have been there in that census year, but, that may have been the area of their residence, and this family didn't show up on one particuar census.
Once you find a family on the census, what's next? Transcribing the information "exactly" as found. Do not alter it in any way. If you cannot read the hand writing, get a photocopy of the page for future reference, it may look different tomorrow in different light. Note the county and year on that copy in your handwriting. Do not guess at words or names, do not change Abbie to Abigal, Jas. to James, or Thos. to Thomas or any other abbreviation. Write it exactly as listed.
Next Class- Using Compiled Records, Primary Records and Analysing the Information.
İFeb 19, 2001 Betty Brooks