Census Indexes Helpful, But Hardly Perfect

The U.S. Federal census is the best, most widely used tool we have for researching our American ancestors. This according to Arlene Eakle, a nationally known genealogical author and lecturer.

Census indexes are a wonderful guide to the original records, but genealogists should know that indexes are fraught with errors.

Efforts to create error-free indexes began under a cloud of handicaps. No indexer, regardless of skill, could make up for deficiencies in the census records they had to use.

People known to be alive at the time of the census, but omitted by the census taker, won’t be added to an index. Neither will someone enumerated on a page skipped by the microfilm camera operator.

An entry obscured by illegible penmanship, faded ink or misspelling may also not appear in an index in the place where a researcher first looks.

Misspelled surnames are the most significant problem created by census takers perpetuated in the indexes.

Given that most enumerators were political appointees - selected for whom they knew, not what they knew - one should not be surprised that both spelling and penmanship were, in many instances, atrocious.

Today, the phonetic rendering of those names, even some with familiar spellings, has befuddled those who have attempted to decipher them. Misreading the original record can banish that person to historical oblivion. Sadly, it has happened all too often.

Over the last few years, several groups have contributed to published census indexes, including members of local genealogical or historical societies who transcribed pages for the community where they live.

Their efforts were usually published locally in limited quantities. But some indexing projects have been very ambitious. For example, the Indiana Historical Society recently published a statewide index to Indiana’s 1870 census.

The production of census indexes is dominated by commercial firms. The largest was Accelerated Indexing Systems Inc. (Ever noticed the AIS stamped on the spine of the indexes at the library?) This company began indexing census records in 1967 and compiled some 600 titles.

The firm published census indexes for every state and territory through 1860, for which the population schedules exist, and for some states in 1870. All AIS indexes published through December 1983 are available on microfiche, organized in seven “searches,” or groups of states and time periods.

This collection of some 40 million names may be used at any Family History Center.

A second indexing firm was Index Publishing, which did 30-plus indexes in the 1980s. Then Precision Indexing, a subsidiary of the American Genealogical Lending Library (AGLL), took on the task of census indexing.

AGLL is one of the most established and reputable companies providing services to genealogists. Precision Indexing offers more columns of information than its predecessors. This company is now working on 1870 indexes.

No index is guaranteed perfect, and this was never more true than with census indexes.

Beginning genealogists are taught to run right to census indexes before they use the microfilms. But beginners must also learn that, with an error rate approaching 20 percent in some instances, not finding your ancestor in the census index does not mean that you will not find him in the actual census.

Genealogists must always view the original county or town census and not just stop with the index.

Most of the information for this column was gleaned from an article in the Illinois State Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 23, No. 3, Fall 1991, titled “Census Indexes: A Primer,” by David Paul Davenport.

I recommend the nine-page article, with dozens of examples of how errors crept into the census indexes, as a homework assignment for any serious genealogist.

Another useful guide on this subject is Richard H. Saldana’s “A Practical Guide To The ‘Misteaks’ Made In Census Indexes.” Published in 1987, Saldana gives 63 pages of examples of census index “misteaks.” This book can be ordered through AGLL at (801) 298-5446, or write P.O. Box 329 Bountiful, Utah, 84011-0329.

The Association of Professional Genealogists’ recently published directory of its members is available for $15, postpaid.

This directory can be helpful in a variety of ways: finding a researcher in a distant area; finding speakers for seminars and reunions; help for authors needing specific geographic background; consultation on specific research problems.

The 1995 directory is cross-indexed by research specialities, geographic specialities, related services and member residence. Helpful information is given on hiring a professional genealogist.

If you want to hire a researcher in a specific area and you’d like some “insurance” about getting a “good one,” then the APG Directory is a good place to start. Send your check to APG Directory, 3421 M St., N.W., Ste. 236, Washington, D.C., 20007.

Today’s trivia

Have you ever wondered exactly how census takers in those early days wrote those names? What sort of writing instrument did they use?

Quill pens, made from bird wing feathers, were used from the time of Christ to about 1800. The first steel-point pen was patented in England in 1803. The first fountain pen was patented in New York in 1884 and was the chief writing instrument in the Western world until World War II. The ball point pen didn’t appear until 1938, and it took years to perfect.

Pencil history is a bit different. The first “lead crayon” appeared in 1795. The year 1812 saw the first appearance of cedar-wood-encased-lead pencil. The first mechanical pencil appeared in 1877.

So, you guess what sort of writing instrument those early census takers used.

Today’s laugh

Remember: Pruning family trees is NOT allowed.

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