Understanding Census Data and learning more about Native Americans

Hi!  We hope you enjoy this.  There is a little music to keep you from going to sleep!

Funny - to look up census data in 1980, we went to the Stake Library and looked through catalog books.  We would pay 3.00 and the Librarian would order the Microfische.  It would take 3 weeks to get here and she would call to let us know it arrived.  The data sometimes was hard to read, or the wrong roll of film because maybe we searched the wrong township.  Now we can switch gears with one click of the  mouse!

The 1940 census is the first census to actually show our parents as adults and sometimes our older siblings were listed.  The law of 72 years is really frustrating when you get addicted to searching.  You uncover a lot of secrets that your family didn't want to discuss, or flossed over and then you need to wait another 10 years to see how it worked out!!!


We are presenting this compilation of notes from our Rootstech trip and tips and tricks to help other budding Genealogists Thursday at the Stake Center.  We will go over it more carefully, but this is the slide deck if you want to review it.

I will also be giving out handouts sheets that help if you don't have excel.

HOW DO I FIND A MAIDEN NAME?

Keep watching for this site to come back up - It will show you where the county seat and boundaries were by the date entered.

 http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/

Let's say you find John and Mary Smith in 1900.  Now go back and find John as a little boy living with his parents.  Look at the entire census page and make note of the family names.

If you enter your query and see in the actual census your relatives, John Smith is 10 years old, for example.  You may see his future wife, little Mary Simmons at 8 years old and her family on the same page on a neighboring plot of land.  This is one way how you would learn her maiden name.,

Take this information and search for Marriage Licenses in that County...then try the county adjacent to it.  If you can find a marriage license validating Mary Simmons married John Smith - what a great find!!!  You are wondering why try the county adjacent to it?  If Mary was underage for one State and/or County, she needed to get permission in writing to show to a judge from her parents.  Without that, they would have to find the nearest county with more lenient rules.