This seems to be a fairly basic tool for researching.
I myself, must confess that I don't use it as much as I should and I don't
rely completely on it either.
There are persons who rely mainly on it for their research.
I think I have just found too many errors or exclusions in the census for my
taste.
I am a skeptical person which in most cases helps in research. If I find an
error in a piece, I am usually looking for another and it also casts doubt
on the rest of the file,piece or article. Throws it all into question.
Although the census was started in 1790 and continues every 10 years to
measure the density and geographic distributing of people, there are some
things you should remember about the census.
You must be very careful when using census records, however. They can be at
once informative and helpful, as well as misleading or downright incorrect.
There are four things you should always remember when working with census
records:
1. Census records' content is only as good as the person who enumerated the
people and recorded the information. Your ancestral family may have been the
victim of a lazy or uncommitted enumerator. The enumerator may have been
tired and may not have wanted to trudge down the road to your
great-grandfather's farm or up five flights of stairs in your urban
great-grandfather's apartment building. Instead, he may have asked a
neighbor, "Hey, do you know the people who live there?" If the answer was
yes, the enumerator might have then asked this person (and not a member of
your ancestor's family) all the questions required to complete the schedule
form.
2. Census records' contents are only as good as the person who provided the
information. Even if the census enumerator visited the family, he may have
been greeted by a child or other family member, or even a servant, who
wasn't the best source for providing the information. As a result, the data
may be incorrect.
3. People were seldom counted twice, but many were not counted at all.
Enumerators sometimes missed homes, people were sometimes away, some people
avoided being counted, and some refused outright to participate.
4. Census enumerators recopied their work onto fresh forms and, in some
censuses, made copies for state, county, and/or local governments too.
During the transcription process, errors may have been made. A birth date or
an age miscopied, a ditto mark (or the abbreviation "do" or "dto")
used in
the wrong place, an incorrect state of birth—all these errors can conspire
to point you in the wrong direction.
I have found persons who are listed with nicknames instead of given names,
persons who even though I know alot of the spelling was phonetic I have no
idea how they arrive at certain combinations.
People who aged 14-20 years in 10 years, and in certain counties in KY I
have found notices on a web page stating that during a certain time frame,
the taking of the census was delegated to certain officials who felt it was
just too much work and they didn't do it. I couldn't believe this upon first
reading it, but it is true. So those census are just not there.
There is one tip though if you do use the census records alot. Also copy
down the 6 households on either side of the ancestor you are searching.
I know, Why? Don't you have enough to do?
Because families often lived adjacent to or near other family members, such
as parents, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, etc. This will save you a trip
back to the library.If this is your main medium of research you should gain
the most possible from your efforts.
Alot of persons use the census for finding ancestors, and in many cases
there not listed. For those persons who depend on the census, then the lack
of an ancestor says to them that they weren't there.
In this case, for my line anyway, this would confirm what I have thought all
along....
I was dropped here from an alien universe, because if my ancestors weren't
there, then I couldn't be here.
Debbie Jennings
debj(a)comsys.net
"Following the footprints through time"