I've gone back all the way to the 1900's in Arkansas' census and then I went into the state of Georgia. There is a major problem with the 1890's census. There are none or close to none. Everything was burn. So I had to go back to the 1880's to continue my research.
More to come.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Census Reports
I decided to view the census backwards going from 1930 back as far as I could go. I was able to go back to 1900's. Sometimes even with all the technology available in today's world I still needed paper and pencil to write down each family I found. And then I was able to compare each census year side by side to detect if there were any discrepancies or anomalies.
My first observation was that it was near impossible to detect a child's death if they were born and died between census. This is where oral history is extremely important. Oral history also helped out when there were twins involved and one did not survive.
Another problem is when people fell off the census reports. This occurred if they got married and moved away or worst if they were single and such moved away. Very rarely did I see one person living by themselves on the Census reports. I have four people that I need to track down who disappeared from the 1930's census but had been on the 1920's census. One lady I know married but I do not know her husband's last name and where they moved to. All her sisters and brothers had stayed in the same area and therefore you saw them on the next census with their husbands. The other three were men who stayed single for the rest of their lives but I don't know where they were living in the 1930's.
All interesting stuff and a lot of detective work.
My first observation was that it was near impossible to detect a child's death if they were born and died between census. This is where oral history is extremely important. Oral history also helped out when there were twins involved and one did not survive.
Another problem is when people fell off the census reports. This occurred if they got married and moved away or worst if they were single and such moved away. Very rarely did I see one person living by themselves on the Census reports. I have four people that I need to track down who disappeared from the 1930's census but had been on the 1920's census. One lady I know married but I do not know her husband's last name and where they moved to. All her sisters and brothers had stayed in the same area and therefore you saw them on the next census with their husbands. The other three were men who stayed single for the rest of their lives but I don't know where they were living in the 1930's.
All interesting stuff and a lot of detective work.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Add Pictures
Today, I will scan family pictures and add them to my family tree. And there is the always on-going process of verifying information.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Getting the Data
I found census records that were free on Census Finder http://www.censusfinder.com/ and were able to verify birth dates and family names from the census. One problem I see using the census is you can't completely rely on them. The main reason, as I see it, is if a child is born and dies between census dates you would not know that person existed. I am trying to think how you could verify everyone in the family - one way, of course, is family oral report. But if everyone is dead then I'm thinking utilizing the newspapers' obituary section or physically going to the family cemetery and looking there. I also was excited to find Federal Land Records to see how much land my family owned. Overall, a very successful day and I didn't have to pay or charge for anything!!!
World Vital Records
Based on what I was looking for I decided I would not sign up for this website. My main reason was they have not gotten all the counties into the census images/reports. My county was
missing and so the census reports didn't do me any good. They did have newspapers from my state I am looking into and that was very interesting. I would rate the site a 3 because the price was excellent and it has great potential. I'll go back at another time and pay for it when I have discretionary income.
missing and so the census reports didn't do me any good. They did have newspapers from my state I am looking into and that was very interesting. I would rate the site a 3 because the price was excellent and it has great potential. I'll go back at another time and pay for it when I have discretionary income.
World Vital Records
My preliminary evaluation is not too good. I don't see all the
counties in my state on the census reports. I'm still reviewing the
website.
counties in my state on the census reports. I'm still reviewing the
website.
Sent from my iPod
Evaluation
I really need to get access to census records. I had a subscription with genealogy.com. The subscription fee is $200 and not a viable alternative at this time. So I am going to try out World Vital Records - its membership is $3.33/mo. If anyone knows where I can get census records, whether online or offline, let me know.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Genealogy - Step 1
I started with myself and my family. I figure if I can get all the information I have on me for everyone else, then I will know that their records are complete. I've recorded the info on the family view page. I am using Family Tree software program. I've been able to put down info for my grandfather and grandmother down to my nephew. But no one is complete yet, including me because I haven't done any reports. I have to find out what reports should be done first. And I don't have any papers - only oral information. This is going to take some time to do. I did put in everyone pictures for the family tree and that was fun to do. Any suggestions would be helpful. Later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)