Increasing Your Yield with Census Records
- 1. LINDON FAMILY HISTORY CENTER Increasing Your Yield with Census Records
- 2. A Census Record is a Starting Point All census Records give you three things: A specific date A geographical location A point to start looking for other records. Birth Certificates Marriage Certificates Death Certificates
- 3. Ancestry.com is a great source of census records. It is available as a private subscription or, on a limited basis at the Lindon Family History Center. This is a screen shot of the opening page in Ancestry. Fill in name, birth, and death information and click on “search”, or choose and click on a census year to start your search.
- 4. Here we have chosen a specific year to search in our quest for a census record.
- 5. Fill in what information you have.
- 6. Select the record that best correlates with your information. The number of stars on the left side indicate the probability that you have a match.
- 7. Drag the cursor across name and the detail box will drop down giving you a synopsis of what is on the actual census record.
- 8. 1. Click on the name and the synopsis will open on your screen. 3. This is probably a boarder. 2. Click on this to view a printer-friendly version.
- 9. This is the printer-friendly version. Click here to print it.
- 10. Go back to the synopsis page and click on this icon to view the actual census record.
- 11. Click on the “ Show in Full Screen ” icon to get rid of the internet clutter at the top of the page.
- 12. Click on the “Print” icon and print a hard copy on the back of your previous copy of the synopsis.
- 13. Option: Click on “Blank Census Form” and select the year you are searching. This provides you with a readable version of the text at the top of the census form.
- 14. Here are blank copies of all of the census forms. Click on the form/year that you want.
- 15. This is a sample of a blank 1910 census form.
- 16. Click on this icon and increase the size of the font to make it easier to read. Copy all information from the top of the form into your records.
- 17. Find your family and record any information that is not in the synopsis: - gender of children -value of real estate -value of personal estate -etc.
- 18. Scroll across the document to get all possible information. Because families often lived close together, check for extended family by checking several pages in both directions.
- 19. Working with Census Records from 1790-1840 Minimal information is given. Names of heads of families Number of males and females living in the family Number of whites and slaves living in the family Problem: How do you know if you have the correct family? Are they living in the same town? Are the oldest male and female (husband and wife) 10 years younger than in 1850 census? Are you able to match the number of children? Are you able to match the gender of the children?
- 20. 1790 – 1840 US Census See if you can find the following on this record: Names of the heads of families Number of males and females living in the family. Number of whites or slaves living in the family.
- 21. 1850 Census Raymond, Cumberland, Maine Assume for a moment that you are looking for information on Samuel Brown and his family. You have found a record of him on this census living in Raymond, Maine in 1850. Samuel is 46. His wife in 48. He has 2 sons that are 22 & 18. He has 2 daughters that are 14 & 8. What would be the makeup of his family 10 years earlier?
- 22. 1840 Census Raymond, Cumberland, Maine This is the same family 10 years earlier. The ages are accurate and their youngest daughter would not have been born yet.
- 23. 1840 Census Raymond, Cumberland, Maine Brown, Samuel 30-40 M 30-40 F 10-15 M 5-10 M under 5 F This is the same record restructured so you can see the ages more easily.
- 24. 1840 Census 1850 Census Brown, Samuel 30-40 M 30-40 F 10-15 M 5-10 M under 5 F Brown, Samuel 46 M Patience 48 F John N. 22 M Samuel 18 M Rachel S. 14 F Sally 8 F Raymond, Cumberland, Maine Here you can see a side-by-side comparison of the two records.
- 25. 1840 Census 1850 Census Brown, Samuel 30-40 M (Patience) 30-40 F (John N.) 10-15 M (Samuel) 5-10 M (Rachel S.) under 5 F Brown, Samuel 46 M Patience 48 F John N. 22 M Samuel 18 M Rachel S. 14 F Sally 8 F Raymond, Cumberland, Maine We can now put names on those listed in the 1840 census.
- 26. 1830 Census Raymond, Cumberland, Maine Samuel Brown 20-30 M / Wife 20-30 F / Child under 5 M Apply the same process to the 1830 census. Remember that some children won’t have been born yet.
- 27. 1830 Census 1850 Census Brown, Samuel 20-30 M (Patience) 20-30 F (John N.) under 5 M Brown, Samuel 46 M Patience 48 F John N. 22 M Samuel 18 M Rachel S. 14 F Sally 8 F Raymond, Cumberland, Maine Brown, Samuel 30-40 M (Patience) 30-40 F (John N.) 10-15 M (Samuel) 5-10 M (Rachel S.) under 5 F 1840 Census As you can see, we have been able to take the family back 10 more years.
Editor's Notes
- #3: Gives you a geographical location at a specific time so you know where to look for other records.
- #21: The first US Census was taken in 1790 to provide information on men eligible for the military. This is taken from the 1840 census in Raymond, Cumberland, Maine. The boxes for slaves is cut off on the right. The six inquiries in 1790 called for the name of the head of the family and the number of persons in each household of the following descriptions: Free White males of 16 years and upward (to assess the country’s industrial and military potential), free White males under 16 years, free White females, all other free persons (by sex and color), and slaves.
- #24: No specific date listed for when the census was done.