At some point or other in their research, every family historian will likely discover the sad fate of the 1890 census. A critical time of population growth and change in America’s history, the 11th census of the United States should have contained the detailed records of more than 60 million individuals. But instead, we have but …
Ever wondered why so many of those calculated years of birth from censuses are so consistently wrong by a year or so? For example, you know your great-grandfather, George, was born in May 1895 but Ancestry, FamilySearch and the others say it was 1896 because he was age 44 in the 1940 US census. The …
A Little More Accuracy? Estimating the Year of Birth Read More »
Growing up in a small town in the 1950’s, the generation gap meant that old folks didn’t understand teenagers. When I became seriously involved in genealogy research, I realized that some researchers also misunderstand the ‘Genealogy Generation Gap’. I asked a genealogical society group this question. “How many years are in a generation?” Answers ranged from 20, …
Photo Caption: Jodi’s recent class photo purchases (stop her before she buys again!) I have a problem. That’s the first step to recovery right? I am addicted to purchasing old class photos. To help myself I have given up eBay for Lent (I can hear the share price dropping as I type this.) This picture …
Appreciating Our Ancestor’s Education & Controlling an eBay Habit Read More »
I just finished reading Megan Smolenyak’s Hey America, Your Roots Are Showing. In each chapter, Ms. Smolenyak talks about what she finds or asks of various census records. These all important records contain many clues about the lives and success of the individuals listed.
Welcome to the world, Family History Daily. Nice to have a genealogy website where one can read about other people’s struggles and triumphs, and tap into the knowledge they want to share, rather than just asking for help with queries. Best wishes for a successful future. To begin at the beginning [spot the quote]: NEVER TRUST …
To really maximize your results on findmypast, focus your initial search around “Who,” “What,” “When,” and “Where” and then filter your results from there. You can always add “variants” to first and last names to search for alternative spellings within the records.
Why the census? These records are completed and compiled every ten years by the federal government and provide a snapshot of individuals and communities. You can use census records to compile demographics, learn how a community, township, county, or state changed, study immigration and migration patterns, and collect data about individuals.