When I get a census record for an ancestor, first thing I do is read the instructions to the enumerator. They usually give the date the census is to be taken, plus who to count and there may be instructions regarding age. At Ancestry once you've clicked on a result for one of the censuses, while still at the Record part click on the title of the record...
When the search window opens, scroll down to the About section.
Or you can go to a site that has free censuses, most will have info about how they were collected and any special instructions. Family Search also has info on the censuses. Also check for schedules of each census, which ones survived, and where to find them, and if there were any issues with that census.
Now I'm ready to record all the information across the line.. age, religion, occupation, etc... whatever was under each heading.
Next I check that census page plus a page or two on either side to see who their neighbours are. Often family members, or a future spouse lived close to one another.
I also record the name of the enumerator. Then I check the first and last pages of that enumerator's section to see what notes he wrote. I could not find my 2x great grandfather on the 1851 census for Frontenac, Ontario. I knew their daughter's future husband was a close neighbour so I checked that family on the census. They and some of their other neighbours were there, just not my ancestor nor his direct neighbours! Why? I then went to the page of that section of the census where the enumerator wrote his notes...
"I beg most respectfully to state for the consideration of the gentlemen composing the Board of Statistics, that owing to the unprecedented fall of snow, and the ruggedness of this part of the country, coupled with the very limited number of cross roads open, I experienced great difficulty in procuring the required information, twenty four days is the amount of time I spent in completing the census of this district."
Well, if he did procure the information of my ancestor's family and their neighbours in those twenty-four days, he didn't include them on the forms. Luckily I found my 2x ggf in the 1855 directory, though that doesn't tell me who else was living there.
Relevant links
very helpful, thanks!
ReplyDeleteI agree, very helpful, thanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks. I don’t know if you can read the enumerator’s description of the roads, but sounds like they are hard to maneuver in the best of conditions. I like at the end he tells the number of churches, sawmills, schools, and taverns.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was growing up I heard that Quebec towns could not have more bars than churches. I’d like to find out if that’s fact or fiction.