In my last #52Ancestors story, I shared how one census record led me to many discoveries. If you’d like to start learning about your family history through census records, first familiarize yourself with a basic introduction.
Then, check out my top three tips for maximizing census research:
1. Always look at the neighbors
Don’t just zero in on your family. Examine the entire page as well as the page before and after to place your family in context. You will often find extended family members living in close proximity.
For more practical tips, click here.
2. Pay attention to the details.
Depending upon the census year, you could discover some of the following:
occupation
year of immigration or naturalization
number of children to whom a mother gave birth and how many were still living
birthplace
birthplace of each parent
language spoken
whether individual could read or write
whether they owned or rented their home
income and hours worked
military service
Read more about instructions to census enumerators here.
3. Don’t forget about the non-population schedules!
These schedules exist primarily for the years 1850-1880 and include:
Agriculture schedules – provide insight into the crops, livestock, and acreage of farmers
Mortality schedules – particularly valuable if your state did not start keep death records until later
Manufacturing and industry schedules
Social statistics - community information about schools, churches, libraries, newspapers, average wages, etc.
Slave schedules (1850 and 1860 only in slave-holding states)
Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes (DDD, 1880 only) - This record set provides information found nowhere else and much of it would be considered politically incorrect or a violation of privacy in today’s society. It enumerated individuals in prisons, “poor houses” or “insane asylums.” It also included individuals who were classified as “deaf-mute,” “blind,” “insane” (suffering from mental illness), or “idiots” (individuals with intellectual developmental disabilities).
For example, my husband’s fourth great-grandparents, Benjamin and Anna Denlinger, were enumerated in the 1880 census at ages 65 and 62 with five adult children living in their home. Four out of those five had tick marks in the column for deaf.
When found in the 1880 DDD schedule, I learned that all four (Martin, John, Lydia, and Kate) had been deaf from birth and had attended a school for the deaf for four to six years. Their year of entrance into the school was also specified, providing an avenue for further research.
Census records contain a wealth of information if you know what to look for and how to find it. I’d love to help you get started!