Making Sense of the Census - Find out: What Information is in the census; Who gave the information? Why doesn’t it all agree? Using other records and maps to help find your ancestors who are “not in the census.”
Outline:
Real life examples mixed with history, stories and humor
What is the purpose of the Census records? & Understanding the collection methods.
Samples from 1790 – 1950 Federal Census looking at:
Neighbors, Migration, Relationships, Age Trending
Making sense out of conflicting information
Problem solving techniques – working backwards.
Finding people: Online searching techniques, Soundex, Published Indexes, and others
Using other resources to find census records
Maps to trace census taker’s path & find people
City Directory to help find missing people
Using census records to help find other resources
Prior Presentations
This lecture and and 20th Century version have been presented at numerous Society meetings, Library programs, and as part of the DCGS and an Adult Learning Center beginner classes.
I also presented it at two National Conferences.
3 Sept. 2003 FGS Conference in Orlando, FL
15 Sept. 2001 FGS Conference in the Quad Cities, IA