In The Census

1900 census - Hancock County, Tennessee

This week's prompt for Amy Johnson Crow's #52ancestors challenge is "In the Census".  At first I thought I would write about a significant find on a certain census.  I couldn't narrow it down to just one thing so I decided to write about the different ways I have used the census reports and some interesting finds.

While I know that census reports often included incorrect information, I find it to be a great starting point.  The 1900 census is my favorite!!  The addition of birth months and years is obviously helpful.  Spelling out the relationship of everyone in the house is nice.  Number of years married can be another answer you may not have had before reading this census and may lead you towards another document to search out.  I find the number of children born/number of children living to be very interesting, and often times heartbreaking.  Birth places of the individual as well as his or her parents birth places can be hints or validation.  Immigration year, years in US and Naturalization year are nice starting points if you're not lucky enough to find your ancestors came through Ellis Island.  Occupation is nice to know as it helps to put the flesh on the bones of your ancestors. 

When I first started looking into my family history I started with the Bartley side of my family...my dad's maternal side.  I was fortunate enough to connect with many distant cousins who were willing to share info with me.  But when I started digging into the census reports, I felt I was finding things for myself.  I started with my 4x great grandparents, then I started working on their children, and then their children and so on.  I would match up the info I found in census reports with other cousins trees on Ancestry or I would check the info I found with the cousins I was talking with.  On the 1900 census for Hancock County, Tennessee, I find my 3x great grandparents living with their 31 year old daughter and 25 year old son.  Their 11 year old grandson and 10 year old granddaughter are also living with them.  My 2x great grandfather had lost his first wife nine years earlier.  I confirmed with cousins that the youngest two children were sent by train to live with their grandparents.  The older boys were on their own by then and the older girls were living with their father, his second wife and their three sons in Dallas, Taylor County, Iowa. 

On the 1920 census in Cat Spring, Austin County, Texas, I find my 2x great grandmother widowed and living with her 11 year old daughter.  Her 12 year old son is living as a boarder, also in Cat Spring. Her 9 year old son (my great grandfather) is living in Cleveland, Austin County, Texas with his grandmother and aunt and uncle.  Sad that the boys were not living with their mother.  But the thing I found even more interesting is that my 2x great grandfather was still alive!!  He is living in Burleigh, Austin County, Texas.  His marital status shows "M" for "married" with an "S" for "single" written over it.  I have heard it was common for woman to say they were widowed rather than saying they were divorced or separated.  I am unsure if they actually were divorced...still a lot more researching to do on this branch.  I do find that my 2x great grandfather died in an accident in 1925.

On the 1870 census in Rose Hill, Lee County, Virginia, I find 8 year old, Rachael, living with my 4x great aunt and uncle.  She is not on the 1880 census.  Of course, the 1890 census was lost, which is extremely annoying!!  The 1900 census shows that Eliza had 8 children, 7 of which were living.  My records show she had 9 children.  The 1910 census shows she gave birth to 13 children, 7 of which were living.  It can be assumed that Rachael died between 1870 and 1880.  I cannot find a newspaper story in regards to her death.  And I have not found a death certificate online. Without making a trip to Lee County and seeing if they even have records going back that far, I may never know for sure.

Maybe the most interesting census I have found is for my great grandfather, Ambrose.  On my first visit to the Minnesota Historical Society I pulled his death certificate.  His parents were listed, George Lewis and Sue Lyons.  I find them on the 1880 census in Nicholasville, Jessamine County, Kentucky (where my great grandfather was born).  The curious thing is they are listed as black, every document I have of my great grandfather lists him as white.  My great grandfather was born in 1886, his brothers in 1884 and 1888.  Of course the 1890 census is missing.  By the 1900 census, I find George still living in Nicholasville.  He is widowed and living with his 16 year old son.  His 12 year old son is living two houses down with a cousin.  They are all listed as black.  Ambrose cannot be found on the census.  In fact, he cannot be found on any census until the 1920 census, when he is found as a soldier at Fort Snelling in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  He is listed as white.  He is listed as white on his military enlistments.  He is listed as white on his death certificate.  I have read articles on black or mulatto people that "passed" as white back then and lived lives separate from their family.  I am unsure if this is the case here.  This family is my brick wall!! 

May need to plan a road trip to Kentucky...but for now I'll keep researching census reports to see what I can dig up.