Do you ever wish ill will upon some of the enumerators?

[Montauk6]

To not be totally negative, I personally would bow and kiss the feet of the one who typed their info (of course, I'm not related, thus far, to any of the entries; and I can't vouch for the accuracy but DAMMIT! You gotta give an A++ for effort!)

I don't feel right putting in words the vile thoughts I feel for the ones who scribble in INITIALS ONLY!!! GRRRRRR!!!!!!

I can't help but picture all this vital historical info being tallied by THIS GUY!

[kestrel91316]

1. One of the enumerators (1920 or 1930) was my g-grandfather, lol.

He scribbled fairly legibly. It's cool to see his name at the top of all the forms. And I have plenty of handwriting samples of his, lol.

He started a new page one day, the neighborhood he lived in, and the first entry was his own household including my grandmother, probably while they were all sitting around the breakfast table.

[Gormy Cuss]

2. The ones who recorded names phonetically

for whatever reason or guessed the ages rather than ask.. I want to reach back and shake them!

Then there are the overly precise ones who list towns and states in the place of birth column. Those I want to thank.

[Bitwit1234]

3. These people were chosen because they could read and write

and that was a terrific feat back in the 1850s' etc. And they had to supply their own pencils and forms. So they were very thrifty.

[CBHagman]

4. It's time to play "Guess that Birthplace."

My great-great-grandmother Rebecca McCloskey Beckett has no fewer than three recorded birthplaces in all the census entries I've found for her: Ireland, England, and New Jersey. I'd love to go back and find out what transpired each time someone wrote her in. Did the informant vary? Was it guesswork? Did it all come down to the ethnic makeup of the neighborhood?

I'd also like to know why another great-great-grandparent of mine is missing in action in the 1880 census. His wife and kids are there, but no Henry. I seem to recall he was in the city directory, though, for the same place and over an extended period of time.

But I don't wish ill on the enumerators. Transcribers of written records, though, are another matter, as they keep getting my ancestors' info wrong, often hilariously so. I've found goofs from the WPA people, the EllisIlsand.org crowd, and HeritageQuest (which may be using what the WPA wrote, now that I think about it).

[Gormy Cuss]

5. My favorites are the" fountain of youth" women.

With each decennial census their age advanced less than 10 years. 1900, age 20. 1910, age 25. 1920, age 32. It's a miracle, I tell you!

I've played around with conflicting census data for my own family and others to tease out which bits to trust and which to ignore. It helps to have city directory data as another reference as well as BMDs, but sometimes you just need to make an educated guess. In the case of the woman I referenced in my first post, I think the 1900 census age was accurate based on the ages of her known siblings.

[Bitwit1234]

9. Another reason

A lot of people who took the census, scribbled down info on scrap paper, and did the real recording when they got home. If their memory was faulty or they couldn't read the notes they put in where they thought the person was born.

In one place in Front Royal, Virginia about 20 people's name's were listed. No other information. In the census someone found that, the census taker could not get back into the area. So he asked a neighbor who lived "back there". Since the neighbor did not know the personal information he just gave names.

And as for missing in the census. The same thing, if the census taker could not get back a long road to the houses, he skipped them. You certainly learn a lot by research. And yes, the census taker, had to also transcribe the name. Some person's giving information's accents were so thick they did the best they could.

I don't know about you all but even reading the copies of the original census on line give me a thrill. I think to my self in reading the 1790 census, what did they do, how did a woman whose husband had died, support her self. Even in the 1930's it would be hard for them to find work in rural areas. And did you see when occupation was listed "farm laborer" so they must have had to work in the fields with the men.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

6. One was my great-great-great uncle

and his handwriting was very easy to read. Got full information on everyone in his ED except a sister in law who refused to give him any information on her age!

[fudge stripe cookays]

7. Ha!

One of the Ohio families I was looking for ended up in Colorado. Their one daughter was listed as what looked like "Wah." :wtf:

After more research and skirting her by looking up siblings, I realized that the woman's name was Juanita, and the stupid enumerator, rather than asking what her real name was, simply wrote it down as provided by the family, using her nickname. :eyes:

[dragonlady]

8. I really felt for one Ontario census taker

He wrote a little essay in the census form for (I think) 1851 apologizing because he hadn't been able to get to one area because the snow was too deep and he was totally exhausted by that time. It really did sound awful. Back then Canada held their census in January, which seems a bit short-sighted, don't you think?

[Mr. McD]

10. Speaking of "Guess that Birthplace".

First column second line. Any guesses?
Fathers birthplace, this from the 1880 census, born 1835, surname Burger

[Bitwit1234]

11. Ancestry has one help although they sure screw up names often

they have a place where you can look and see different types of handwriting. But it has never helped me. And those that write with all the scrolls and whirly cues are just as bad as the illiterate and shaky.

[CBHagman]

12. Wow, that's a tricky one.

It certainly looks like "Badm." I wonder if "Bohemia" or "Bavaria" was meant. Or maybe it's a city name -- Baltimore? :banghead:

On edit: Time for the multiple census search and/or use of other clues, like data on siblings.

[Mr. McD]

13. No known siblings

I hadn't considered cities since states or countries are usually used. Burger can be Dutch, English, or German. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Germany

Five German cities starting with Bad M. Could be one of them.

Bad Mergentheim (Baden-Württ.)
Bad Münder am Deister (Nieders.)
Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg (R.P.)
Bad Münstereifel (North Rhine-Westphalia)
Bad Muskau (Saxony)

[CBHagman]

14. Hm.

Baden Wuerttemberg? Baden Baden?

I wonder if there are any clues on the rest of the sheet. I mean clues regarding the enumerator's handwriting, or perhaps in the ethnic make-up of the neighborhood, etc.

[Mr. McD]

15. Nothing stands out

Everything else is legible. Mostly American born except several families with members from Ireland, one family from Prussia, and one from Bavaria.

[Gormy Cuss]

16. It looks like Baden

Baden was a more or less independent country in the early 19th century IIRC.

[Mr. McD]

17. Probably something I should know.

But Don't.:shrug: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baden

[fudge stripe cookays]

18. Yep,

I'll chime in with Baden as well. :D

[Thirtieschild]

19. Some of the worst were in Hall Co GA

They consistently used initials instead of names. At least one family'n names changed in 1870 - Caroline was suddenly Nancy C., Raymond was Robert R. etc. I've always wondered if they deliberately gave the wrong names because they didn't trust the Yankee census taker.

It's maddening when they simply aren't there. My mother's family don't show up in 1910, and I can't find my father in either 1920 or 1930.

[Bitwit1234]

20. Anybody looking for my husband and I in 1960 probably won't find them

I insisted that the census taker didn't show up. I remembered it but everyone said they did...I didn't give the info or mail anything back so I am writing all the info down and putting it on a CD so the family will know if any body 100 years from now is interested in genealogy.

Since we all have computers that's what we should do..make sure future generations don't have the problems we have had.