Washington Census Tips

United States Census Washington Census Tips

Value of Censuses

Census records are extremely valuable in genealogical research. They:

1. Reveal specifics about the family, such as names, ages, birthplaces. See Contents of Federal Censuses
2. Locate the family in the very places where other records about them were likely created. (See Using the Census to find other records
3. Provide clues that help you learn even more about them.

Helping you make the most of all these values is the purpose of this article.

Effective Census Tips

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.

Why:

• You may find sisters living in the area.
• Your ancestor's widowed mother may have remarried. In those censuses, were the women the right age(s) to be sisters? Aunts? The mother?
• One of the husbands and your ancestor may have witnessed one anothers' deeds or other documents, perhaps suggesting they have become relatives.

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?

For example:

Census Tips for What You Want to Learn

Immigration and Naturalization

Some federal censuses give the year of immigration.