The 1940 USA Census

[MissElainey]

Anyone else here into genealogy? I'm personally looking forward to the processing and release of the 1940 census data. For our non-USA readers, the census is done every 10 years. However, the details are not released to the public (names, addresses, actual info) for 70 years, or one generation worth. So 1940 was available this year, but of course, everyone has a ton of work to do to make it useful to the public. I'm excited because I'm trying to find out something about a relative in the 1940's.

I know from obituaries and other records that my Grand-Aunt, my grandmother's sister, lived in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas as late as 1944 when her mother died. Leona Reynolds was still single at 29 and living with Great-Grandma in Fort Worth then. I can't find anything about Leona after that. There's a family story that Leona (aka Lena or Jackie) worked on planes there in WWII, and I've confirmed two plane manufacturers that existed there in that time. To think, one of my direct relatives could have been a "Rosie the Riveter". Amazing.

Gosh, I'd give anything to have a picture of her.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Where can one gain access to past census data online? Perferably for free.

Thanx!!!
Charlie

 

[MissElainey]

Not sure where you could get complete census info for free. I signed up with Ancestry.com. The monthly fee has paid for itself time and again with everything I've been able to discover about both sides of the family, though. Totally worth it.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

Not to take this thread off track, but I love looking at the old censuses (censii?) and I once had a 2 week free trial on ancestry.com. I cancelled it after my 2 weeks because the way billing is explained on there CONFUSES ME.

Do they charge you one lump sum for the year or can you go by month to month?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Not to take this thread off track, but I love looking at the old censuses (censii?) and I once had a 2 week free trial on ancestry.com. I cancelled it after my 2 weeks because the way billing is explained on there CONFUSES ME.

Do they charge you one lump sum for the year or can you go by month to month?

I've only just let mine run out -- they bill your credit card annually, which can take you by surprise if you forget it's coming due.

I think they do have a monthly program, but it figures out to being more expensive than the annual deal.

 

[Lily Powers]

Anyone else here into genealogy? I'm personally looking forward to the processing and release of the 1940 census data. For our non-USA readers, the census is done every 10 years. However, the details are not released to the public (names, addresses, actual info) for 70 years, or one generation worth. So 1940 was available this year, but of course, everyone has a ton of work to do to make it useful to the public. I'm excited because I'm trying to find out something about a relative in the 1940's.

I know from obituaries and other records that my Grand-Aunt, my grandmother's sister, lived in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas as late as 1944 when her mother died. Leona Reynolds was still single at 29 and living with Great-Grandma in Fort Worth then. I can't find anything about Leona after that. There's a family story that Leona (aka Lena or Jackie) worked on planes there in WWII, and I've confirmed two plane manufacturers that existed there in that time. To think, one of my direct relatives could have been a "Rosie the Riveter". Amazing.

Gosh, I'd give anything to have a picture of her.

Texas has some pretty good county collections online for genealogical research - vital statistics, phone records, voting records and archived newspapers. You can get them free from numerous online sites. Sometimes volunteers from the county libraries will also do lookups for you.

 

[David Conwill]

The State of Michigan used to have all of the censuses pre-1930 online (1930 was supposed to be up soon), but I can't find them now. I think they were probably taken down when MHAL was dissolved (the Great Recession and all that). It's a shame, we were apparently one of the leaders in geneaology at one time.

Oddly, I could not find my Conwills in the 1900 census. I'm fairly certain they were here by then...

-Dave

 

[jamespowers]

As a side note, some of the local Japanese here found out that the Census records were not all that inacessible as they were used to round them up and put them in concentration camps during the war.
I never put any nationality information on my census forms for that reason.

 

[Lily Powers]

Another thing on the 1940 census: the privacy hold is 72-years, so we won't be able to access them until 2012.

 

[Joie DeVive]

Try your local library for free access. The Alameda County Library System in CA used to have a program, where with your library card you had access to the census records online for free. I've since moved away, but I got a lot of valuable information that way!

 

[Tomasso]

I never put any nationality information on my census forms for that reason.

There would be a lot of Americans in camps if they went after the Irish.:eusa_doh:

 

[the snake's hips]

I am looking forward to having access to it. My relatives were all in Texas, too.

 

[jamespowers]

There would be a lot of Americans in camps if they went after the Irish.:eusa_doh:

When was the last time we were at war with Ireland?
I couldn't stand the embargo on Irish Whiskey.

 

[zetwal]

Interesting ... thanks for posting.

 

[Sarge]

The 1940 U.S. Federal Census will not be available to the public until April 2, 2012. The census records are not available to the public until 72 years after the year the census was taken.

 

[Bluebird Marsha]

*BUMP*

So, now that the 1940 census has been released, has anyone started on their personal treasure hunt? I'm still learning how to use it, but it's fun. Especially looking at the occupations.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I spent the better part of an afternoon last week looking at all of the listings for my hometown. Found my grandparents, uncle, mother, great-grandparents, great-aunts and uncles, and a lot of people who were still around town when I was growing up. Most interesting discovery so far -- my grandfather worked 30 weeks during 1939, mostly as a longshoreman, and earned a total income of $547. His father, a master carpenter, earned $480. Most families in town earned under $1000 a year.

 

[Bluebird Marsha]

I just finished doing a "first pass thru" on my hometown. No earth shattering surprises, although I didn't know that my great-grandparents each had three years of college.
My maternal grandparents lived right where I was told they lived; renting a subdivided house at $30 a month (their friends lived in the other side). They both had finished high school, and grandaddy managed a lumber company- again not a surprise (his mother owned it )

There was one strange thing. My great-grandmother was named Willie. (I thought) I attributed this to late 1800's names for girls. Stick an "ie" at the end of a man's name, it becomes feminine. But there it was in digital pencil. WILLIAM! In what century has that ever been a woman's name? There it was, with her son's and husband's name. I had to call mom to ask "what the heck?"
Mom said she always preferred to be called Mrs. J. J. I can see why :eusa_doh:

I'm sooo confused.

 

[Wire9Vintage]

My grandmother had a male name as well. And WB Yeats' wife's name was George.

 

[LizzieMaine]

There was quite a bit of that sort of thing in the late 19th/early 20th century -- sometimes a desire to name the firstborn, regardless of sex, after the father or grandfather, and sometimes just a desire to be unconventional. It worked the other way, too -- there were quite a few male Shirleys rampant in the Era, and there was even this guy:

Meet Sue K. Hicks, one of the prosecutors in the Scopes evolution trial in 1925, and yes, the man who inspired a certain popular song of the 1960s. He was named after his mother, and nobody seemed to have a problem with it. You don't mess with a prosecutor.