1. Genealogy Boot Camp
Session Two:
Federal Census Records
1790-1930

2. Federal Census Records
 Mandated by the constitution.
 First Federal Census in 1790.
 Conducted every 10 years.
 Personal information open to public after
72 years.
 1890 census destroyed in fire.

3. What Information Might I Find
in Census Records?
 Names of parents
 Names of siblings
 Places of residence
 Places of Birth
 Native Language
 Approx. year of
marriage
 Month and Year of birth
(1900 census)
 Year of Immigration
 Naturalization
 Literacy
 Marital Status
 Occupations
 Rent or Own Property
 Native Language
 War Veteran

4. In Class Activity
1930 Census Record Analysis

5. Who was Recorded in the
Census?
1790-1840
 Only heads of household are named.
 Family members, lodgers and slaves are
enumerated but not named.
1850-1930
 All enumerated household members (except
slaves) are named.
 Slaves were enumerated on separate
schedules, but they are generally not named.

6. 1840 Census Record
Age ranges and sex are given
for household members, but
not names.
Only heads of
household are listed
by name.

7. Using Census
Records
A Case Study

8.  1930 census is a
great place to begin
your census
research.
 Choose a relative
who was alive in
1930 and try
searching for them.

9. 1930 Search Result for
Lorraine Black
Click on the link
to view the
Original Image.

10. 1930 Census Record
Lorraine D. Black is living with her father, Ralph Black,
his wife (presumably her mother) and her grandmother,
Sienna E. Black.

11. Create a Timeline

12. Create a Pedigree Chart
Lorraine Black
b. abt. 1925 in Illinois
Ralph A. Black
b. abt. 1901 in Rhode Island
m. abt. 1923
Dorothy C.
b. abt. 1903 in Illinois
?
d. prob. bef. 1930
m. prob. bef. 1901
Sienna E.
b. abt. 1861 in Holland

13. Search 1920
census for
Ralph Black
who was born
in Rhode
Island.

14. 1920 Search Result for Ralph Black

15. 1920 Census Record
Ralph A. Black is living with his widowed mother,
Mrs. S.E. Black, and his brother, Raymond J.
Black.
Mrs. S.E. Black was
born in Holland.
Raymond J. was transcribed Ray
Morris J. by the indexer.

17. What Have We Learned?
Lorraine Black
b. abt. 1925 in Illinois
Ralph A. Black
b. abt. 1901 in Rhode Island
m. abt. 1923
Dorothy C.
b. abt. 1903 in Illinois
?
d. prob. bef. 1920
m. prob. bef. 1897
Sienna E.
b. abt. 1861 in Holland

18. 1910 Census

19. 1910 Census Record
Direct Evidence:
Married for 28 Years in 1910.
Indirect Evidence:
Married about 1882
Ralph A. Black is living with his father,
Edward J. Black and his mother
Sybretekia(?) E. Family sources confirm
this was her “ethnic” name.
Three additional
siblings are
revealed.

20. Keep
adding
new
information
to your
family
timeline

21. What Have We Learned?
Lorraine Black
b. abt. 1925 in Illinois
Ralph A. Black
b. abt. 1901 in Rhode Island
m. abt. 1923
Dorothy C.
b. abt. 1903 in Illinois
Edward Black
b. abt. 1860 in Rhode Island
d. aft. 1910
m. abt. 1882
Sienna E./Sybret??ia
b. abt. 1861 in Holland
?
b. bef. 1844 in Ireland
?
b. bef. 1844 in Ireland

22. 1900 Census Search
Transcription
errors can make
searching difficult!

23. 1900 Census Record
Same household – next page
Edward Black household

24. Compare
information
from
previous
censuses.
Does the
information
match?

26. What Have We Learned?
Lorraine Black
b. abt. 1925 in Illinois
Ralph A. Black
b. abt. 1901 in Rhode Island
m. abt. 1923
Dorothy C.
b. abt. 1903 in Illinois
Edward Black
b. March 1860
d. aft. 1910
m. abt. 1882
Sienna E./Sybret??ia Dekker
b. April 1861
? Black
b. prob. bef. 1844 in Ireland
?
b. prob. bef. 1844 in Ireland
Ary Dekker
b. Jan 1852 in Holland
?
b. prob. bef. 1846
d. prob bef. June 1, 1900

27. 1880 Census

28. 1880 Census Record
More geographic detail is given for
Catharine’s birthplace. Terschelling
is an island in Friesland, a province
in the Netherlands.
Sienna E. is enumerated under
her middle name. Or is it really
her first name?
One of the children was born in Massachusetts.
Might this indicate they immigrated through Boston?

29. What Have We Learned?
Lorraine Black
b. abt. 1925 in Illinois
Ralph A. Black
b. abt. 1901 in Rhode Island
m. abt. 1923
Dorothy C.
b. abt. 1903 in Illinois
Edward Black
b. March 1860 in Rhode Island
d. aft. 1910
m. abt. 1882
Sienna E./Sybret??ia Dekker
b. April 1861 in Holland
? Black
b. prob. bef. 1844 in Ireland
?
b. prob. bef. 1844 in Ireland
Ary Dekker
b. Jan 1852 in Holland
Catherine
b. abt. 1833 in Terschelling,
Friesland, Netherlands
d. bef. June 1, 1900

30. 1880 Census

31. 1880 Census
Note the different birthplaces for John Black’s children.
Incorporate this evidence into your timeline.
Edward J. Black is living with his
Irish father, John Black, and his
presumed mother Jane.
Five siblings are also
identified.

32. What Have We Learned?
Lorraine Black
b. abt. 1925 in Illinois
Ralph A. Black
b. abt. 1901 in Rhode Island
m. abt. 1923
Dorothy C.
b. abt. 1903 in Illinois
Edward Black
b. March 1860 in Rhode Island
d. aft. 1910
m. abt. 1882
Sienna E./Sybret??ia Dekker
b. April 1861 in Holland
? John Black
b. abt. 1813 in Ireland
m. prob. bef. 1847
? Jane
b. abt. 1821 in Ireland
Ary Dekker
b. Jan 1852 in Holland
Catherine
b. abt. 1833 in Terschelling
d. bef. June 1, 1900

33. Where Can I Find the Census
Records?
 Subscription Databases –
Ancestry.com/Ancestry LE, Heritage Quest,
Footnote.com, etc.
 Familysearch.org - Free web site sponsored
by LDS Church.
 Microfilm – Available at large genealogical
libraries, National Archives and LDS Family
History Centers.

34. Searching Ancestry
for Census Records
Tips and Tricks

35. This general
search screen
gives you limited
options and
searches only a
fragment of
what’s available
on Ancestry.
For best results,
search each census
year individually.

36. Select an individual census year
to search.

38. 1930 Census Search Options
Narrow your
search by entering
a birthplace. (Use
states or foreign
countries)
Only include
family members
if they were
living together in
the same
household in
1930.
Change the birth year
range from 0 to 2 to
accommodate for
some variance in
reported ages.

39. Exact Match
 Results exactly match your search terms.
 Gives you greater control and accuracy.
 Allows you to use wildcards ( * and ?)

40. Soundex Search
 Accounts for many (but not all!) spelling variations.
 Assigns each surname a code based on how it
sounds.

41. Soundex Results for Karsted
(K623)

42. Ancestry Ranked Search
 Does not allow for soundex searching or wildcards.
 Search results aren’t always very relevant.
 Give it a try, but don’t count on it always working.
When Exact match is unchecked, Ancestry uses the information you
provide to find potential matches for you.

43. Census Search
Challenges

44. Use of Initials

45. Middle Names & Nicknames
1930 Census
1920 Census

46. Indexing/Transcription Errors
Correct in census.
Wrong in index.

47. Additional Search Challenges
 Census Taker Errors
 “Misspelled” names
 Americanization of Given Names
 Changing Surnames
 Changing County Boundaries

48. For Hard to Find Relatives
 Try alternate spellings.
 Try phonetic spellings.
 Try searching for last names without first names, or
vice versa.
 Try searching by location without any names, but
limit by age, location, and birthplace.
 Try browsing images by enumeration district.
 Try searching for your ancestor’s neighbors.

49. Citing Your
Census
Record

50. Genealogy Boot Camp
Session Two:
Federal Census Records
1790-1930

51. 1860 Slave Schedule