Searching For The Voice In My Heart

I challenged my beginning genealogy students to write a paper on understanding and using the U.S. censuses. Prizes awaited those who participated.

Darlene Stevens showed her census understanding with a poem, mentioning many pertinent facts researchers need to understand when using the U.S. federal censuses.

Darlene graciously granted permission to share her poem:

Searching for the Voice in My Heart

By Darlene Stevens

It was the first day of census, and all through the land

each pollster was ready… a black book in hand.

He mounted his horse for a long dusty ride,

his book and some quills were tucked close by his side.

A long winding ride down a road barely there,

toward the smell of fresh bread wafting up through the air.

The woman was young with a small oval face

and wisps of brown hair she tucked back into place.

She gave him some water… as they sat at the table

and she answered his questions… the best she was able.

He asked of her children. Yes, she had quite a few;

the oldest was twenty, the youngest not two.

She held up a toddler with cheeks round and red.

His sister, she whispered, was napping in bed.

She noted each person who lived there with pride

and she felt the faint stirrings of the wee one inside.

She noted the sex, the color, the age…

the marks from the quill soon filled up the page.

At the number of children, she nodded her head

and he saw her lips quiver for the three who were dead.

The places of birth she never forgot… was it Kansas?

or Utah? or Oregon… or not.

They came from Scotland, of that she was clear.

But she wasn’t quite sure just how long they’d been here.

They spoke of employment, of schooling and such.

They could read some… and write some…

though really not much.

When the questions were answered… his job there was done,

so he mounted his horse and he rode towards the sun.

We can almost imagine his voice loud and clear,

May God bless you all for another 10 years.

Now picture a time warp… it’s now you and me

as we search for the people on our family tree.

We squint at the census and scroll down so slow

as we search for that entry from long, long ago.

Could they only imagine on that long-ago day

that the entries they made would affect us this way?

If they knew, would they wonder at the yearning we feel

and the searching that makes them increasingly real.

We can hear if we listen the words they impart

through their blood in our veins and their voice in our heart.

Do you want to write a paper, demonstrating how to use the U.S. federal censuses? I have prizes.

Here are the guidelines:

The paper must be four pages, typed, double-spaced and titled, “The Census from A To Z.” Explain what a beginner needs to know to understand and use the censuses.

When submitting your paper to me (c/o this paper), include a 9x12 self-addressed envelope and $1 for return postage.

Deadline for submissions is June 15.

I looking forward to hearing from you.

, DataTimes MEMO: Donna Potter Phillips welcomes letters from readers. Write to her at The Spokesman-Review, Features Department, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. For a response, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Donna Potter Phillips The Spokesman-Review