Washington Census Tips
United States Census Washington Census
Tips
Contents
Census Tips[edit | edit source]
Find your ancestor in every census taken while he/she was alive.
- 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.
- Follow the children through censuses.
- Neighbors may be relatives or old friends from their home state.
- Why:
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. Were the women old enough to be sisters? Aunts? The mother?
- Did any of those husbands witness your ancestor's deeds and other records? Were they near neighbors?
- Why:
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.
- The state or nation where the children were born is 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?
- Why:
Check a map to see county boundaries for the census year you want to search.
- Why:
- Why:
- Ask questions to analyze what you are seeing: It is possible? Is it probable?
- For example:
Census Index Tips[edit | edit source]
Check another index if you did not find your family.}}
- Why:
- Indexers vary in skill and accuracy
- The quality of the image or copy they used affects the quality of the index
- Some indexers are local and more familiar with the names or families of the area than others
Check county census indexes when online indexes fail.
- Why:
- Created by local societies or groups who knew the families of the area, these indexes are often more accurate
- Footnotes or information about the family may be added
- Where to find county census indexes:
- Many are published in books or periodicals
- Search online catalogs and check with local libraries
How Censuses Can Help You Find[edit | edit source]
Names of Parents[edit | edit source]
Maiden Name of Mother[edit | edit source]
A child's middle name is sometimes the maiden name of the mother
Obituaries sometimes list maiden name of wife/mother
On this Wiki - Maiden Names in the United States
How do I know this is MY person?[edit | edit source]
Family members - the more you know the more you will recognize Occupation
Other people your ancestor knew How is this going to be explained?
Migration from another state[edit | edit source]
Marriage: When and Where[edit | edit source]
Immigration and Naturalization[edit | edit source]
Some federal censuses give the year of immigration.