Expect Twists When You Research

Let’s talk about using the U.S. federal censuses today, and I’ll tell you of an experience I had doing census research.

While researching recently in Salt Lake City’s Family History Library, I tried to help a friend by looking up her Oswell families in the 1840 Massachusetts census.

The printed index for that census indicated a Gardner Oswell family was listed on Page 48, Sutton Township, Worcester County. I pulled the correct microfilm, put it on the reader and began cranking. When I came to Page 48, I couldn’t find Gardner Oswell, and then noticed that the page was for Ashburnham township. What??!!

Then, as so many serendipitous things happen in that library, I recalled a set of guide books on the census reference shelf I had learned about only the day before: “The United States Federal Census Place Enrollment Schedules,” published in 1991, details all places covered by the censuses and in what order the localities are found on the microfilm.

Genealogists know census records are poorly organized and often difficult to work with. The first six federal censuses - 1790 to 1840 - look like someone shuffled a deck of cards so as to have two and three townships intermixed from page to page, or frame to frame, on the microfilm.

The next most striking feature of these census records is the very poor way in which they’re paginated. (That’s a quote from the book’s introduction.)

Accelerated Indexing Systems produced more census indexes than any other company in its heyday. Apparently, as they indexed the old census records, they prepared a separate roster of exactly what places are to be found on each film and exactly in what order they are to be found.

These rosters were published as two books, one spanning 1790 through 1830; the other covering 1840 and 1850. These hardbound books are found on the reference table in the library’s U.S. census area on the second floor. I’ve seen them nowhere else.

So, back to my Oswell problem: Using Vol. 2, I found the towns in Worcester County were listed in two 300-page parts on the film, both parts beginning with a Page 1. So, in Part 1, Page 48, was Ashburnham. But on the same film, in Part 2, was a second listing for Page 48, where, sure enough, Sutton township was listed.

The point of the story is, what would I have done if I’d not known about these books? I would have rolled the film back and forth a bit, but likely would never have realized there were two big parts to the film, both parts of Worcester County. (Would I have remembered my mother’s advice to always read the instructions at the front of the book first? Doubtful.) Most likely, I would not have found the Gardner Oswell family because I never would have found the correct Page 48.

What can you learn from this story?

First, always inquire about a guidebook. If these particular books are not available, always read the first few frames of any U.S. federal census microfilm. If there are any special instructions, you won’t miss them.

Stay tuned. Perhaps I can locate copies of these books for our EWGS collection.