rst and last names, or use Soundex if possible. Some enumerators were quite "creative" in recording people's names. Especially in earlier censuses, many people could not write or spell their own Most genealogists working in the US have learned what a valuable tool the US Census is. But the ins and outs of each census record are intricate. It seems like each decade something changed about the information included or the way it was recorded. This perception is quite often the case. The history of the US Census Records is important to understand when using it as a resource to trace your ancestors. This article features census searching tips and covers the history of the US Census from 1790 to 1810. Part two in this series covers US Census history from 1820 to 1880, including 1850, a watershed year in census history. The third and last article covers the history of the census from 1890 to the present.

Census Searching Tips

Try any and all spellings of first and last names, or use Soundex if possible. Some enumerators were quite "creative" in recording people's names. Especially in earlier censuses, many people could not write or spell their own n

the information included or the way it was recorded. This perception is quite often the case. The history of the US Census Records is important to understand when using it as a resource to trace your ancestors. This article features census searching tips and covers the history of the US Census from 1790 to 1810. Part two in this series covers US Census history from 1820 to 1880, including 1850, a watershed year in census history. The third and last article covers the history of the census from 1890 to the present.

Census Searching Tips

Try any and all spellings of first and last names, or use Soundex if possible. Some enumerators were quite "creative" in recording people's names. Especially in earlier censuses, many people could not write or spell their own

your ancestors. This article features census searching tips and covers the history of the US Census from 1790 to 1810. Part two in this series covers US Census history from 1820 to 1880, including 1850, a watershed year in census history. The third and last article covers the history of the census from 1890 to the present.

Census Searching Tips

Try any and all spellings of first and last names, or use Soundex if possible. Some enumerators were quite "creative" in recording people's names. Especially in earlier censuses, many people could not write or spell their own

ng 1850, a watershed year in census history. The third and last article covers the history of the census from 1890 to the present.

Census Searching Tips

Try any and all spellings of first and last names, or use Soundex if possible. Some enumerators were quite "creative" in recording people's names. Especially in earlier censuses, many people could not write or spell their own

rst and last names, or use Soundex if possible. Some enumerators were quite "creative" in recording people's names. Especially in earlier censuses, many people could not write or spell their own name for the enumerator. Recent immigrants might also have had thick accents. McCollum, for example, might be rendered McCullum, McCullom, MacCallum (its derivation), MacCollum, McColm, McCollin (that's straight from the census record), etc. A fairly common name, Franklin has fourteen extant spelling variations that might appear (including two f's, two n's, ck for k, y for i, a silent e, and combinations of the four). My husband's genealogy has the surname Faulkner spelled four different ways in four generations, and each of those men could have used any or all of those spellings during their lives, if they were literate. You get the idea. Keep in mind that city, county and state boundaries have changed, especially from the times of the earliest censuses. Counties existed