1940 census coming out in April

13 years ago

This year, on April 2 at 9 a.m. the 1940 census will, finally, be released to the public. Also, for the first time, NARA (the National Archives) is releasing them for free online searching! The census is usually the first place I go to research a new family member. Since the census is done every 10 years, most people will show up in at least five censuses during their lifetime.

So what are some of the steps you need to take to prepare to get the most from this census? Your first step should be to visit the NARA website at http://www.archives.gov/research/census/1940/general-info.html#guide The website explains what questions were asked on the census (with related codes). You can print out the blank census form to fill in with your search results. The website also provides many good

suggestions for how to prepare for and use the census.

The big drawback to this release is that no one will have yet been able to index the census by name. Although Ancestry.com (paid site) and FamilySearch.org (free site) both pledge to create indexes, this will be a long and time-consuming process. With preparation, though, you should be able to find your ancestor by browsing the Enumeration District (ED) in which they lived in 1940. For many searches, I may wait for an index, but there are a few ancestors I want to find badly enough to browse the ED district.

The easiest way to find the ED for where your ancestor lived is to use Steve Morse’s, non-government website http://stevemorse.org/census/ . The Morse website does not yet have all districts, but if necessary the NARA website does. This will not be as easy as the Morse site, but it is possible to find them, if you follow the instructions and have time to load each page.

The 1940 census asks some intriguing new questions which will be of great help to us, such as who is providing the answers. This can help answer the age-old question of how reliable is the information? For example, a mother providing children’s ages will probably be more accurate than if a more distant relative provides it.

Another new question is where this person lived in 1935. I am excited about this particular question since my long lost great-uncle Charles Gallagher went missing after 1935. There is a good chance he was living alone, so without this question, I would not be able to tie Charles to his old address to confirm that he is “my” Charles. Wish me luck!

Another interesting question is what “class” of worker an employed person was. The NARA website lists the classes as follows: Wage/Salary Worker in Private Work, Wage/Salary Worker in Gov’t. Work, Employer, Working on Own Account, or Unpaid Family Worker. Knowing whether someone is an employee or and employer can provide clues to family businesses. If you are lucky enough to have an ancestor whose name landed on line 14 or line 29, then there are 16 extra questions asked, such as the birthplace of the parents, and language spoken in childhood.

This release has been long awaited, and visiting the NARA website can help you be ready to get the greatest benefits.

Editor’s note: This regular column is sponsored by the Aroostook County Genealogical Society. The group meets the fourth Monday of the month except in July and December at the Cary Medical Center’s Chan Education Center, 163 Van Buren Road, Caribou, at 6:30 p.m. Guests and prospective members are always welcome. FMI contact Edwin “J” Bullard at 492-5501. Columnist Nina Brawn of Dover-Foxcroft, who has been doing genealogy for over 30 years, is a freelance genealogy researcher, speaker and teacher. Reader e-mails are welcome at ninabrawn@gmail.com.