Tag Archives: U.S. Census

Let’s Talk About: Census Taking & Evolution of Names

by Donna Phillips

Bet we’ve all seen this wonderful Norman Rockwell painting, The Census Taker, which he did in 1940 for a Saturday Evening Post cover. Look carefully at the red-headed mom counting on her fingers….

We genealogists both love and hate the censuses. And we each could cite examples of our feelings for both reactions. May I share an example of “scratching our heads” regarding census information?

Way, way back in 1998, Barbara Johnson shared with me her research example of names:

  • 1820 – DE-Kent Co – Garrettson Jarrell
  • 1830 – IN-Franklin Co – Garrett Fitzgerald
  • 1840 – IN-Franklin Co – Garret F. Jarrell
  • 1850 – IN-Marshall Co – Garrett Jerrell
  • 1860 – IN-Marshall Co  Mortality Schedule – Garrett Fitzgerald
  • 1870 – IN-Marshall Co – Permelia Gerrall
  • 1880 – IN-Marshall Co – Olphelia Jerrolds
  • Then Permelia Jarrell until her death in 1903.

But checking on www.FindAGrave.org, her obituary posted there calls her Parmela Jarrell. 

Think how these surnames morphed over 100 years. Think about your ancestral surnames. Is your mind open to the many possible, potential changes??????

When Barbara shared this story with me so long ago, she added: “There was a common practice among what appear to be related families in these areas to use a middle initial “F” to stand for a dropped “Fitz” and eventually the “Fitz” was just dropped.” 

There are surely a million words written explaining and or describing the evolution of surnames but OUR surname is what matters to US, right? 

1950 Census Is Almost Here

by Roxanne Lowe

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In case you haven’t heard (not sure how you missed the news!), the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is releasing the 1950 U.S. Census at midnight on 01 Apr 2022. NARA will provide free online access to the population schedules for U.S. states and territories, enumeration district maps, and enumeration district descriptions.  

According to NARA’s website, they used Amazon Web Services’ artificial intelligence / optical character recognition (AI/OCR) Textract tool to extract the handwritten names from the digitized population schedules. Because the initial name index is built on optical character recognition (OCR) technology, it will not be 100-percent accurate. NARA, FamilySearch, Ancestry, and a host of others are calling for eager volunteers to help “check and correct” the census — not transcribe names like we’ve done in the past. FamilySearch published a great “how-to” video during RootsTech on how to get involved in their effort. The video is available here.

Even though an index won’t be available for a while (hopefully a short while), you can still find your people (or maybe even yourself!). Steve Morse has published an excellent article on getting ready, including how to find your all-important enumeration district.

Don’t Be Square — Discover Your Family in the 1950 Census in a Free Webinar

by Roxanne Lowe

FamilyTree University is sponsoring a free interactive webinar called “Don’t Be Square — Discover Your Family in the 1950 Census.” Thursday, April 7 at 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time. The instructor will be Jim Ericson who manages the marketing efforts of FamilySearch in Europe and North America. Click here to sign up!

We live in a remarkable time! New technologies and process innovations will unlock billions of records for more people than ever. These records can help us to learn and discover information about our ancestors.

The innovations that Ancestry and FamilySearch are applying create a searchable index of the 1950 US Census. They also provide us a glimpse into the future of records publication and accessibility. 

The creation of automated indexes using artificial intelligence and handwriting recognition technology—combined with volunteer crowdsourcing to review and improve the results—will usher in a new age of genealogical discovery.

What you’ll learn:

  • What has happened since the 1950 census was released by NARA on April 1st?
  • Why are Ancestry and FamilySearch working together to create a separate index?
  • How will the index created by Ancestry and FamilySearch be made available?
  • How can you participate in allowing everyone to experience this unique piece of history?

Click here to sign up!