1940 Census presentation for NH libraries.

1. The 1940 Census –
For Librarians
CHRISTINE SHARBROUGH, MSLIS ARCHIVAL STUDIES,
C E R T I F I E D G E N E A L O G I S T SM
REFERENCE & OUTREACH LIBRARIAN
DERRY PUBLIC LIBRARY

2. Agenda
 Welcome
 About Me/Housekeeping
 Genealogists – What do they WANT???!!
 Crash Course in Census Records/Ref Resources
 Break
 1940 Census
 Faux data & forms, Webstuff
 Indexing
 Q&A

3. Welcome

4. About Me/Housekeeping
 Certified GenealogistSM
 Blog: www.genealogy2012.wordpress.com
 Ref/Outreach Librarian/Archivist/Genealogist
 Housekeeping details
 Bathrooms
 Break
 Telephones
 Questions – contact me anytime
 christines@derrypl.org

5. Genealogists – What do they WANT??!!
 We want it ALL.
 We want it for FREE.
 We want it NOW.
 Must be PERFECT
 EASY
 Endless amounts of time discussing my family with you.
 Gripped with interest…
 “Gimmee, take me, bring me, buy me galaxy.”
 Our Ancestors, ourselves (1940/1930/1920)
 Told to go to local public library for help
 Newbies
 Our job to educate/set expectations

6. Crash Course in Understanding the Census
 Goals:
 Understand importance to genealogists
 Why census is a clue not a fact
 Inherent problems
 Reference resources

7. Purpose of the Federal Census
• Equal representation in government
• First bicameralist government – 17th Century
England
• Bicameral: Latin: bi=two; camera=chamber
• Two chambers of Parliament
• Two chambers of the legislature (Senate/House)
• Senate same regardless of size
• Count population for representation in the House
• Large states disproportionate representation

8. Problem #1
 Locating people can be difficult
 Boundary Changes:
 State/Territory
 County
 Town
 May be looking in the wrong place
 Dollarhide, William and Thorndale, William, Map
Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-
1920, Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing
Company, 2011. Reprint.

9. Country Overview: US 1790

10. US 1810

11. US 1820

12. US 1860

13. OHIO – Crossroads of America 1810

14. Recap
 Constant boundary changes
 Changed states/territories
 Changed counties
 Changed towns

15. Problem #2
 Boundary Changes (Problem #1)
 Lack of printed forms until 1830 in most areas
 Printed forms are illegible when filmed
 Recommend using a printed form
 Forms available for free
 Ancestry.com
 FamilyTreeMagazine.com

16. 1790 federal census, population schedule -
Massachusetts

17. 1790 federal census, population schedule – New
Hampshire

18. Problem #3
 Boundary Changes (Problem #1)
 Lack of printed forms until 1830 (Problem #2)
 Handwriting is not 21st century
 Because. it’s. NOT. 21st century.

19. Handwriting – British and Early American

20. 17th Century Alphabet

21. “Court Hand”

22. Interpret Names/Terms?

23. Handwriting Resource & Tips
 Kip Sperry’s Reading Early American
Handwriting, Baltimore, MD: Genealogical
Publishing Co. 2008
 Look for legible names on the same sheet/same
enumerator
 Look for neighbors in other censuses
 Search for children/spouse

24. Recap
 Boundary changes (1)
 Lack of printed forms/illegible (2)
 Handwriting is illegible/unusual (3)
 Amazing that anyone is found…ever

25. Problem #4
 Inconsistent names/ages

26. Francis Marion Bobo 1852-1931
 8/23/1860 Francis M, 8 y.o. (b.c. 1852)
 7/14/1870 Francis M, 18 y.o. (b.c. 1852)
 6/17/1880 M, 25 y.o. (b.c. 1855)
 Matilda, 22 y.o., (b.c. 1858)
 6/1/1900 Frank M, 48 y.o. (b.c. 1852)
 Matilda, 43 y.o., (b.c. 1857)
 6/1/1910 Frances M, 63 y.o. (b.c. 1847) Aged 15 years in 10.
 Matilda, 53 y.o. (b.c. 1857)
 1/22/1920 Francis Maron, 63 y.o. (b.c. 1857) No age change
 Matilda, 53 y.o. (b.c. 1867) no age change
 4/17/1930 Marion, 78 y.o., (b.c. 1852)
 Tilda, 74 y.o., (b.c. 1856) Aged 21 years in 10

27. Problem #5
 You don’t read the whole page
 Miss family connections
 Infant baptism – sponsors/godparents
 Family
 Married daughters
 Never crop a census page!

28. Problem #6
 Incomplete
 Weird
 Left off people who were there
 Put in people who weren’t
 Important to know what enumerators were told on
how to interpret information!
 Google: “Measuring America”
 http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/ma.html

29. Examples
• Census law did not give a definition of “place of abode”
• Some persons reported in two places
• Some not at all
• Left to the judgement of the enumerator
• “Seafaring men are to be reported at their land homes, no
matter how long they may have been absent, if they are
supposed to be still alive.”
• “…sailors temporarily at a sailors’ boarding or lodging
house, if they acknowledge any other home within the
United States, are not to be included in the family of the
lodging or boarding house.”

30. More Oddities
• RE: # children born/living
• In 1900 & 1910: mothers asked # of children born
and # living
• Does NOT include stillborn children
• If you have gaps – check it out
• RE: Birthplaces
• Canada English vs Canada French
• Not language - DESCENT

31. Conclusion
 Census research is rife with issues
 There are reference resources that can help
 Hard work
 1940 will be worse (for awhile)
 1930 – 2 years to index
 1940 – 6-18 months

32. Break time!
Please return in 10 minutes.

33. 1940 census patron prep work/info
 List of relatives/ancestors
 Pinpoint residences
 Identify the Enumeration District in 1940
 Only 1940census.archives.gov on April 2nd
 NARA embargoed images for first release
 Ancestry.com;
Archives.com, Censusrecords.com, FamilySearch.org
, MyHeritage.com companies:
(myheritage.com, worldvitalrecords.com and
familylink.com)

34. 1940 census – so what.
 First time – almost everyone will have a family member
alive in 1940.
 Find themselves in the census.
 Track people moving due to Great Depression
 Ethnic group migration
 Occupational group migration
 Historical context – where did they go?
 Brickwall
 What you know now – backwards
 Where did they live in 1935??
 Pseudo-interim census

35. 1940 Census issues
 THERE. IS. NO. NAME. INDEX.
 Won’t be one for 6-18 months.
 Arranged by state, county, enumeration district
(ED).
 Enumeration district number = county-city/rural
area (usually alphabetical)
 Large cities filed at the end (not alphabetical)
 Browse by ED to find anyone.
 Translate ED 1930 to ED 1940
 How??

36. What’s in your collection?
 City directories
 Vital records
 Newspapers
 Town/county histories
 Compiled genealogies
 Any information that links people to a place in time
(1940)
 Diaries
 Employment Records
 Letters
 School/Church Records
 Scrapbooks

37. How does your library go?
 Electronic resources?
 Ancestry.com
 No good for initial 1940 census images
 Good for locating
 1930 census locations (every name index)
 City directories
 World War II Draft Registrations
 Occurred in first half of 1940, address is likely to be where family lived in 1940
 HeritageQuest.com
 No good for 1940 census images
 1930 census locations (better index than Ancestry.com)
 Historical books
 Database computers with no internet (no good for census images)
 Public internet access – good for SteveMorse.org
 Public internet access – bad for FamilySearch Indexing

38. How??
 Make a list of relatives
 GCP
 GEDCOM (like text file for GCP)
 LegacyFamilyTree.com (free)
 Report on who to look for
 Form by hand

39. Enumeration District
 What?
 Amount of territory that an enumerator (census
taker) could cover in a “set period of time”
 Rural – one month
 Urban – two weeks
 Two numbers: 31-1518
 First part: county prefix (usually alphabetical)
 Second part: district number
 1930 and 1940 may NOT be the same for the same
location

41. 8-9 is now 8-11
8-10 is split
into 8-12 and
8-13

42. Boston, 1940.
Image 30 of 771
Urban vs Rural

44. Where did they live?
 1930 Census location
 Browse 1940 Census enumeration district (ED)
 80-120 pages PER ED for almost ALL EDs
 Boston had 771 in 1940 = 61,680 pages
 Derry had 5 = 400 pages
 There has to be a better way…
 There is.

45. ED 13-447
Kirby Family
3 Channel Street, Boston, Mass.

46. SteveMorse.org
Click on US
Census

48. http://www.stevemorse.org

49. Indexing with FamilySearch.org
 Must make an account with FamilySearch
 LDS
 Non-LDS
 Must download the indexing program
 Can start a group indexing project (Derry has one)
 Very easy
 Excellent user interface (UI)

50. FamilySearch Indexing – Live!
 Patrons/libraries looking to index:
 https://the1940census.com/?cid=fsHomeT1940Hel
pText

51. 1870 – 7 years to compile; 1940 – 2 ½ years.
Photo/Info Courtesy of Library of Congress

52. Questions?