Hints for using the 1880 USA census
By Miriam Dapra
I have gone through [the 1880/1881 censuses...] with a fine-tooth
comb, and found many of my ancestors and relatives who were alive
back then.
If I may add a few observations of my own, though, it may help reduce
some aggravation on the part of others.
Why use the Census at all
First, an important reason to use the on-line 1880 USA census: the
1880 Soundex to that census listed only heads of households with children
under the age of 10. The on-line census allows you to find people
who do NOT fit that category, for instance a single male who lived
by himself.
View original pages too
Of course, once you find the census record on-line, you will still
want to get a copy from microfilm of the pertinent page(s), because
there is more information there (e.g., the address), and there may
be errors or discrepancies on the on-line census.
Start with narrowed down search
Second, if you know where the person lived, and when the person was
born, start with the most narrowed-down search possible. EXAMPLE:
I looked for STREETER, inexact spelling, no first name, born between
1820 and 1860, in what turned out to be a vain attempt to find three
of my relatives by that name, and had to page through more than a
thousand -- or was it 2,000? -- names.
Use birth year range
Third, use the "birth year range" even if you are positive
your ancestor was born in, say, 1852. The ages on census records are
rather notorious for being off, especially with the adults in the
household.
Searching for "John Smith"
Fourth, if you get too many hits (say, for "John Smith"),
and you know his wife's name or a child's name, enter that name for
the look-up and put the husband/father's name in as "head of
household". You may get lots of matches again (say, for "Mary
and John Smith"), but not nearly as many.
Turn off "exact spelling"
Fifth, if you are not finding your ancestor/relative with an "exact
spelling" (if you start with it turned on), then turn off the
"exact spelling". If you still don't find who you are looking
for, make the search as wide as possible (e.g., in "all states",
not just in, say, Michigan).
Start being creative
Sixth, if you still don't find him, start being creative. EXAMPLE:
I could not find my RONAYNE ancestor under RONAYNE or RONAN (the most
common alternate spelling), either using exact or inexact spelling.
It appears that a sort of soundex was used to sort the last names
for the on-line census, but in this case it failed. RONAYNE sounds
different from RONAN -- but how was the name spelled on the census?
I don't remember exactly how I found the family I was looking for,
but I CAN find them by putting in the wife's first name, her husband's
first name (you'll have to try more than once, perhaps, if he has
two given names), the place she was born, her birth year with a range
of +/- 10 years, and the state of residence. This "mix"
gave me 24 hits (without the state, there were more than 200 hits),
and it was easy to find my family -- the surname was spelled ROONAN,
which *sounds* different from the other two spellings!!
Check neighbor households too
On Houshold records pages, take some time, if desired, to check out
the neighbors by using the "Previous" and "Next"
household buttons. A friend of mine may have found a great-great grandmother
by doing this; the woman in question is living next door to my friend's
great-grandfather, shares his surname, is in the correct age range to
be his mother, *and* has a son whose age is within two years of the
great-grandfather.
Finally (and maybe this should have been first), use the same principles
of genealogy research for on-line resources as you would with other
documents to find "your" family.
The hints given here have been derived from using the US 1880 census.
But of course most of the rules can also applied to the British Isles
and Canadian 1881 censuses.
Contact the author
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