Washington Census Tips: Difference between revisions
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=== Census Index Tips === | === Census Index Tips === | ||
{{Tip|Check county census indexes when online indexes fail. Created by local societies or groups who knew the families of the area, these indexes are often more accurate and may have added family notes.}} | {{Tip|Check county census indexes when online indexes fail. Created by local societies or groups who knew the families of the area, these indexes are often more accurate and may have added family notes.}} | ||
:Many are published in books or [[Washington Periodicals|periodicals]] | |||
:Search online catalogs and check with local libraries | |||
=== How Censuses Can Help You Find === | === How Censuses Can Help You Find === | ||
Revision as of 17:32, 5 December 2013
United States Census 
Washington Census Tips
Census Tips[edit | edit source]
| Tip: Find your ancestor in every census taken while he/she was alive. This includes territorial and state-funded censuses. |
- Why:
- Relatives, such as grandchildren or married children, may live with them
- They may live with a child, such as a married daughter, in their later years
- Neighbors may be relatives or old friends from their home state.
| Tip: Check marriages for women in the county where your ancestor was found in a census. Then find those women and their husbands the SAME census. |
- Why:
- You may find sisters living in the area.
- Your ancestor's widowed mother may have remarried.
- Notice the ages: were the women old enough to be sisters? Aunts? The mother?
- Notice your ancestor's deeds and other records: Were any of those husbands witnesses?
| Tip: Pay close attention to the ages and birthplaces. |
- Why:
- Gaps in ages of children may be a clue to:
- A second marriage of the couple: Check marriage records for this.
- A child died young. Check cemetery, church, funeral, and other records.
- Where the children were born (state, nation) may be a clue to:
- When the family migrated
- Ages of husband and wife may be clues:
- In a second marriage, the husband may be older than the wife.
- Compare ages of the wife and the children:
- The oldest child: was the wife too young to be the mother? (Child-bearing years for most women were between 16–40.)
- The youngest child: was the wife too old?
- Gaps in ages of children may be a clue to:
| Tip: Ask questions to analyze what you are seeing: It is possible? Is it probable? |
- For example:
Census Index Tips[edit | edit source]
| Tip: Check county census indexes when online indexes fail. Created by local societies or groups who knew the families of the area, these indexes are often more accurate and may have added family notes. |
- Many are published in books or periodicals
- Search online catalogs and check with local libraries
How Censuses Can Help You Find[edit | edit source]
Names of Parents[edit | edit source]
Maiden Name of Mother[edit | edit source]
A child's middle name is sometimes the maiden name of the mother
How do I know this is MY person?[edit | edit source]
Migration from another state[edit | edit source]
Marriage: When and Where[edit | edit source]
Immigration and Naturalization[edit | edit source]
Some federal censuses give the year of immigration.