United States Census 
Washington Census Tips
Census Tips
| 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:
How Censuses Can Help You Find
Names of Parents
Maiden Name of Mother
A child's middle name is sometimes the maiden name of the mother
How do I know this is MY person?
Migration from another state
Marriage: When and Where
Immigration and Naturalization
Some federal censuses give the year of immigration.