Parking was right across the street;
registration was easy. While we waited to meet our friends Wally and Marian for
lunch, we had a long chat with speaker DonnaMoughty. We first met Donna when we lived in Newtown,
CT, and she spoke to our newly formed genealogy club. Donna now lives in
Florida, is a member of the Manatee Genealogical Society, as are we, so we see
her there as well. It was nice to have a chance to visit in Springfield. Donna
is a professional genealogist specializing in Irish research
along with U.S. research, methodology and technology including Macs, iPhones
and iPads. She provides research, consultations and training. She is one
busy lady!
After a delicious lunch at the Red Rose
restaurant, my first NERGC session was Finding
Someone Who Eluded Census Records, by Carol Prescott McCoy.
There are different types of censuses. The population census is the most used, but
there are also industrial, agricultural,
Veteran’s, some state censuses,
and slave schedules. Note the date
when the census was taken, i.e. in 1920, the date was 1 January. Check every year,
every type. People moved and could have been missed. Or they were too far out
in the country, in dangerous territory, where the census taker didn’t want to
go. Sometimes ancestors are listed twice, if they were traveling between
residences. And these could contain different information!
Copy/download entire census page to capture
neighbors for future searches. Record all members of the household. Sometimes
boarders or “servants” can be relatives. Record names, ages, and places exactly
as in the census.
Name spelling issues are
the most common. Try every variation. If that doesn’t work, find neighbors from
previous census. If your ancestors stayed in the same place, finding the
neighbors will locate your people. This was the only way we were able to find
my New York City Nunn family in the 1900 census. When the census taker was told
the last name was Nunn, he thought he was being told “none.” After several
attempts at this misunderstanding, he finally wrote the deceased father’s first
name “Joseph,” as the last name, scribbled in with the wife’s first name – a
real mess. I located them because I found a 1905 New
York Times article where Elizabeth Nunn (eldest daughter) sued her neighbor
for return of money Elizabeth had entrusted with the woman in 1900. When I
untangled that mess, I found the family!
Census Substitutes. Town
records, tax lists, school lists, old maps, town histories, voter lists are all
places where your ancestors’ histories reside. Hubby and I developed an 1890
Census Substitute for Newtown, Connecticut by using tax records, school and
voter lists, and some church records. It was our hope that other towns would
follow suit in order to fill in this 20 year gap.
My best takeaways: Develop a census database. This can be done for
each person or by family, to sort by last name as well as date. Develop a timeline (I did that years ago, but it
is a good reminder to review and update.) FAN
Club - Follow friends, associates and neighbors. Be flexible!
