Censuses Are Terrific Research Tools

Today I want to share the edited version of the census lesson term-paper, prepared by Anita Messex, a student in my recent beginners genealogy class.

“A dictionary definition of census is an official, periodic enumeration of the population. The Latin definition calls it a registration of citizens to assess or tax.

An early census was taken by Noah, as told in Genesis 6:19, according to my grandmother’s Bible, and living things were counted as they entered the ark.

Our Constitution established America’s census to provide legislative apportionment for Congress. As our government grew, the purpose changed to provide continually more personal information about its citizens.

A series of census counts spanning the life of each individual in a family must be surveyed to obtain some picture of the group. Children who died young may not appear in the tabulation. Orphans and shirt-tail relatives might have been considered family. The head of a family might be the 16-year-old son who could shoot game and thus feed his siblings and widowed mother.

Researchers are at the mercy of available information. The proper procedure is to work backwards in time.

You will find some records have been destroyed and others are indecipherable. However, note your findings correctly but do not correct the record. Always cite the complete source.

Watch for group similarities between your ancestors and their neighbors. Did they all come from Sweden? Were they all farmers? Speak the same language? Perhaps they attended the same church, ate the same food and tried to marry off their children within the group.

Other types of census counts have been conducted. One was the Mortality Schedule for those who died in the year preceding the census. Other kinds of federal counts include listings for property, acreage and crops, veterans and widows.

Also, territories and states took censuses for their own needs and may yield additional information on your family.

An important consideration in census research is to assess the attitude, education and communication skills of both the enumerator and the person answering the questions. Was the responder a family member? Young, old? A neighbor?

Also to be considered are language differences, crying babies, quarantined homes and some immigrants who feared strangers. While guests were usually welcomed, some felt uncomfortable talking to any government representative.

Even the writing surface could make a difference. Did the enumerator sit at a table or write against the wall of a sod house?

Another important factor in understanding census records is to take into account the long distances enumerators had to travel on foot, horseback or in a bumpy wagon. How did he keep ink in the bottle and his forms dry? Paper was a precious commodity and he had to supply his own for the early censuses.”

Censuses are a terrific research tool, says Messex, but they are just another few bricks in the building of your family castle. Start small, one brick at a time, and fully use those census records.

The June 7 luncheon meeting of the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society begins at noon in the Commons at Mukogawa Fort Wright. Jon Manning will present “The Battle of Little Bighorn: the Custer Myth.” Call Shirley Penna Oakes, 276-9841, for more information.

, 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.

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