Genealogy Lesson #7: Today you are going to search the 1940 U.S. Federal Census for one of your relatives and one of mine using FamilySearch.org.
The U.S. Federal Census you are responding to now in 2020 will not be made public until 2092. Long after most of us are passed. The aggregate data (the total population, the number of residents in your town, their ethnicities, ages, etc.) will be available within weeks of the conclusion of the census taking but the actual records do not become public until 72 years later. This is true of every U.S. Census and it’s done as a means of protecting privacy.
The most recent Census made available to the public is the 1940 Census which was released in 2012. The 1950 Census will be released in 2022. I can’t wait to see the 1950 because that will be the first time I can see my father listed in it.
Sign into your FamilySearch.org account.
Click on Search. This is usually located in the top navigation bar.
Choose Records. This is usually accessible by hovering on the work “Search” in the top navigation bar.
Instead of searching by first name and last name of the person try searching in a specific collection.
To do this go to the “Find A Collection” section of the search page. This section is usually on the bottom right.
Type into the search box “United States Census” and you will see a drop down menu appear listing all the U.S. Census records sets.
Choose United States Census, 1940.
My grandpa was somehow left out of the 1940 census but you are going to look for his parents.
Now do a search for my great-grandpa Abram Earle. He was born in 1891 in Twillingate Newfoundland. After he immigrated to the U.S. he lived in Freeport, Roosevelt, Bellmore, and Merrick; all communities on the South Shore of Western Nassau County on Long Island, NY. His wife’s name was Ethel. In addition to my grandpa, he had another son named Allen who was born in about 1915.
Find the record.
After you find it in the list of hits, click on the icon that looks like a sheet of paper. From there you can also access the image of the actual record.
Click on the image and tell me the address the family is living at and how old Ethel is.
Then try your hand at finding one of your relatives in the 1940 census.
Abram Earle and his family were living at 79. West Roosevelt Ave. His wife Ethel was listed as 44 years-old.
ReplyDelete