Clues You Can Find in a Census Record

 

Bonnie recently asked Olive Tree Genealogy this question about her ancestors:

I have recently found my Grandmother listed on the 1901 Ontario Census in the township of Wroxeter in Huron County.  She was born on August 5, 1899.  Her parents were George J Harris and Agnes J Harris born Jan 3, 1875 and Sept 21, 1877 respectively.  I was hoping to find where George and Agnes were born, and when their families emigrated and from where?  We know very little about the Harris side of the family so I was very excited to see this much!

Olive Tree Genealogy Responds

Dear Bonnie - It is easy to overlook clues that are in a record. For instance ONE census record can often provide a great many new facts and clues to work on.  

FACTS FROM THE CENSUS IMAGE

First let me show you some important facts I think you may have overlooked on that 1901 census. A look at the online image shows that George was born in Ontario and his wife Agnes in the USA. Agnes gives her year of immigration from America to Canada as 1881.

This means you can search the Ontario birth registrations to find who George's parents were. You also know that it is quite likely George and Agnes were married in Ontario so I'd start looking at Ontario marriage records. This should give you both sets of parents' names for the bride and the groom.

Secondly, Wroxeter is not the township where the couple lived. It is a village in Howick Township, Huron County.  The census images clearly indicates Wroxeter Village and a quick search online reveals the township it is in.

Third,  did you note they are Presbyterian? That will be helpful to you in hunting for church and burial records.

Fourth, I am not convinced that George has the middle initial of "J". From the image it is difficult to tell if that is a "J" or "Jr" for Junior. Keep an open mind and try to find more proof that he has a middle name starting with "J" or that he is the son of a man named George. 

CLUES FROM THE CENSUS IMAGE

I've mentioned some of the clues above but here is a list of clues you can work on from facts in that one census record 

1. Search Presbyterian church records for baptisms, marriages and even deaths and burials. 

 2. Look for Agnes and George marrying in Ontario, I'd guess sometime around 1897-1901.

3. Look for Agnes as a single woman in the 1881 and 1891 Ontario census records. Remember she says she came from USA to Canada in 1881. 

4. Look for George and Agnes in 1911 and 1921 Ontario Census. (Hint: Look for them in Saskatchewan records too... try their 1906 and 1916 census)

MORE RESEARCH TIPS

Find the family in every census record possible. Compile a list of all their children then search for births and marriages of each child. Sometimes you will gather more clues and facts from a sibling's records that you are unable to find from your direct ancestor. For example birth registrations will usually give the mother's maiden name.

Once you have Agnes' maiden name, and hopefully her parents' names from a marriage record, search for her in the American census records before 1881 (1880 would be a good one!) This should give you the state she was born in.

Search for George's birth registration (search 1875 plus/minus 2 years to be safe) and then start looking for him in the 1881 and 1891 census of Ontario. (Hint: George was born in Turnbury, Huron County....)

You can find census records on Ancestry.com,  Ancestry.ca or FamilySearch. 

The Pitfalls of Census Records

How accurate are census records? I'm sure this question has arisen for every genealogist at some point in their research.

Why does Great Grandma's age change every census by less (or more!) than the 10 years between census? What's up with Great Grandpa's surname being spelled incorrectly? Why does Grandpa have a different first name every census year? Is it even the right man?? And why does great great grandma give a different place of birth for her parents each time?

These are all questions that might arise as you delve into census records. We quickly learn that census records cannot be considered the absolute and final authority. There are good reasons why we see so many discrepancies, but discrepancies doesn't mean we should ignore the information, just that we need to check for other collaborating records (or records which will disprove the anomalous information)

Why Are Census Records Inconsistent?

How can the census be so wrong sometimes? Consider first what question was actually asked by the census taker. For example with ages - did he ask how old the person was, or how old they were on their last birthday or.....

People lie about their ages. In past generations individuals often did not know their exact year of birth. I have a letter written in 1847 by my ancestor Levi Peer to his mother, asking her when he was born! At the time he was 38 years old but he obviously only had a vague idea of his birth year.

Spelling Doesn't Count

What about names? Spelling was not exact back in the 1800s and earlier. A census taker wrote what he heard, and whether or not he was a good speller or was familiar with the surname dictated what we see rendered on the census page. Don't forget that great grandpa might have been a recent immigrant with a difficult accent. The census taker might not have had any idea what name was being spoken.

If great grandpa was German or Polish or.... any other nationality find out what the English equivalent of his first name is. If you only know him as Walter but you know he came from another country, find out what his English name is in his native land. You may find him recorded either with his English equivalent or his ethnic origin name. For example Wladyslaw can be Walter. And on and on it goes...

Different first names? Children were usually given at least two names at birth and a man (or woman) might choose to use his first or his middle, or perhaps a nickname. Your ancestor might not have settled on his or her name until later in life, so may have used one name on one census and another on the next. Parents may have called their child by the name they bestowed on him but when he grew up he may have decided he didn't like his given name and used his middle.

People also had nicknames - Jack for John, Delia for Bridget, Polly for Mary - there are many standard nicknames which we can easily find with a search of Google. But what about invented nicknames? My husband's grandfather had the first name of Leon and middle name of Thomas but was called Charlie his entire life. We have to keep an open mind about whether or not individual A is the same person as individual B on another census!

Who Answered the Census Taker's Questions?

The next question we need to ask ourselves is - who provided the answers on that census? Was it a parent? And if so, was it Mom or Dad. Mothers may have had a better idea of their children's birth years and ages than dad. Was it an older child (perhaps mom or dad were not home) or even a neighbour giving the information? All these factors will affect the quality of the census information.

Immigration and naturalization years are among the most mis-remembered of all on the census. Let's face it, can you recall the exact year you did something? If I am asked what year I went backpacking through Europe, I can only say it was sometime in the mid 1970s. To figure it out more precisely I'd need some time to sit and think about how old my children were, or some other trigger for my memory. The census taker was not going to sit there while mom or dad thought about what year they arrived in this country so the year you see on the census may be pretty much their best guess, given quickly.

As for great great Grandma giving a different place of birth for her parents (or even herself!) remember that she may only have heard how her mother lived in New York, and not have heard that actually her mother was born in Illinois and moved to New York as an infant. She may know that she herself was born in New York but moved elsewhere as a child and considers that her birth place. Again, think about who might have given the information! Perhaps great great grandma was sick in bed and her husband provided the details, or an older child.

Take it With a Grain of Salt

Treat the census as you should every other genealogical source - with a bit of suspicion. Find other records and assess them all before arriving at a decision as to which (if any) is correct. But don't toss away information in one record as being completely wrong until you have thought about all the variables involved. You may find that you are indeed on the right track chasing Jurgen Muzzel even though you were told your great great grandpa was George Maxwell.....

Analysing Clues to Help You Figure Out Where to Search Next (pt 2)

Sherri asked about her grandfather's death and I posted the first part of my answer on this blog on October 17th. Here is the second part of my answer:

I have been looking for information for about 5 years about my grandfather who is named Burrell Charles Ball first married to Doreen Roxie Morcombe (from Omemee) and then afterward I think Estelle Ball was his wife.  Burrell’s brother I know was from Emily Twp, Albert and he died a few years back and Burrell died around 1993 but I do not know when, where, how etc. 

Also Russell Charles Ball was their father and I believe he lived in Lakefield but there is little information about any of them.  I know there was a fire in Russell’s Lakefield home where he had Burrell, Albert and Barbara E. Ball (I think).  He was married to Julia Secreta Wood that I believe died when she was young.   Where can I go to find out more information?

Olive Tree Genealogy Answer:

Hello Sherri. Since you did not provide an estimated year of birth for Burell, I had to hunt on the 'net to find some mention of him.  Luckily I happened on one of your message board posts where you stated he was born circa 1920 and, best of all, that he was in WW2.

His military service is a great clue and means there are a number of steps you can now take:

Step One:
Did you know that you can send for his military file from Library and Archives Canada? This will give you lots of detail about your grandfather, and may include his death date and location.

Step Two:
Also you can search the online records of the Legion Magazine's Last Post. These are death notices for servicemen and women. Burell is found - just conduct a search under his name. His death date is given as November 14, 1992 (no location). So if he were my ancestor my next step would be to write to the Legion Magazine and ask if they have any other information on Burrell.

Step Three: 
Write to the Legion Branch (Haliburton) where Burrell was a member. Ask if anyone remembers him or if there is more information available. 

There are other steps you can take even with the few clues you have given me.

Step Four:
Send for Burrell's birth certificate from the Registrar General in Thunder Bay.  This will give you an exact date and location of birth, as well his parents' names and ages. With any luck the info found there will lead you to finding his parents in the 1911 census or in earlier records.

Step Five:
Lakefield is in Peterborough County so I would write to the Peterborough Museum & Archives and ask if they have any information on the family.

Burrell's Parents
Now, turning to Burrell's parents. You don't seem to have found the information available on Russell and his wife Julia. Ancestry.com has Ontario marriage records to 1927 online. The marriage of Russell Charles Ball age 29 to Julia Secreta [sic] Wood age 19 is found in Peterborough County 6 June 1917.  You will want to obtain this record. Julia's middle name appears to be a mistranscription of the actual name given in the image.

 Ancestry.com has very nicely shown that there are other records online for Russell and Julia - namely Russell's birth, 1891 census, 1901 census, 1911 census, Julia's birth and her death. Their places of birth and parents' names are found in the record of marriage record.

Next, since Lakefield was mentioned by you, why not search the online Lakefield Cemetery website? I did, and found Charles Russell Ball, Julia and several other Ball burials. You may be able to match some of them with whatever you find in the census records. This will give you some family groups with dates.

Summary:
Going clue by clue I've now found Russell Charles Ball's birth record, marriage record and burial. Each new bit of information was a clue I used to find another bit. I have also found his parents' names and  their deaths too. Their deaths provided me with their locations of birth.

There is much more available online but I'll leave you the fun of following the trail I started for you.

How to Analyse Clues in Genealogy Records (Pt 1)

Sherri sent a query to Ask Olive Tree about her grandfather's death:

I have been looking for information for about 5 years about my grandfather who is named Burrell Charles Ball first married to Doreen Roxie Morcombe (from Omemee) and then afterward I think Estelle Ball was his wife.  Burrell’s brother I know was from Emily Twp, Albert and he died a few years back and Burrell died around 1993 but I do not know when, where, how etc. 

Also Russell Charles Ball was their father and I believe he lived in Lakefield but there is little information about any of them.  I know there was a fire in Russell’s Lakefield home where he had Burrell, Albert and Barbara E. Ball (I think).  He was married to Julia Secreta Wood that I believe died when she was young.   Where can I go to find out more information?

Olive Tree Genealogy Answer:

Hello Sherri. Since you did not provide an estimated year of birth for Burell, I had to hunt on the 'net to find some mention of him.  Luckily I happened on one of your message board posts where you stated he was born circa 1920 and, best of all, that he was in WW2.

His military service is a great clue and means there are a number of steps you can now take:

Step One:
Did you know that you can send for his military file from Library and Archives Canada? This will give you lots of detail about your grandfather, and may include his death date and location.

A Step by Step Genealogy Tutorial on How to Analyse Clues

Sherri sent a query to Ask Olive Tree about her grandfather's death:

I have been looking for information for about 5 years about my grandfather who is named Burrell Charles Ball first married to Doreen Roxie Morcombe (from Omemee) and then afterward I think Estelle Ball was his wife.  Burrell’s brother I know was from Emily Twp, Albert and he died a few years back and Burrell died around 1993 but I do not know when, where, how etc. 

Also Russell Charles Ball was their father and I believe he lived in Lakefield but there is little information about any of them.  I know there was a fire in Russell’s Lakefield home where he had Burrell, Albert and Barbara E. Ball (I think).  He was married to Julia Secreta Wood that I believe died when she was young.   Where can I go to find out more information?

Olive Tree Genealogy Answer:

Hello Sherri. Since you did not provide an estimated year of birth for Burell, I had to hunt on the 'net to find some mention of him.  Luckily I happened on one of your message board posts where you stated he was born circa 1920 and, best of all, that he was in WW2.

His military service is a great clue and means there are a number of steps you can now take:

Step One:
Did you know that you can send for his military file from Library and Archives Canada? This will give you lots of detail about your grandfather, and may include his death date and location.


Continue reading the steps in this tutorial at Analysing Clues to Help You Figure Out Where to Search Next

Turn a Genealogy Guess Into a Working Theory

Davida asked Olive Tree Genealogy an interesting question and one that I think is asked by many newcomers to genealogy.

Here's her question:

In the 1870 census, I found 14 males with the name Blake in St Peters, Beaufort, SC.  My question is could it be that these males were related. I realize that it's kind of hard to tell just from census records but being that there are such few of them, I thought that maybe the older men were possibly brothers who had sons and those sons had sons.

Davida - you've come up with a good guess for those fourteen Blake males.  They could indeed be related. But it's only a guess. You have no evidence to support your guess. And there are other possibilities:

* The older men could be cousins.
* The men could be from unrelated Blake families.
* They could be related but much further back than brothers or first cousins.

LIST THE POSSIBILITIES

Adding your guess to the mix we see that we have four good possibilities. So let's simplify it.

1. the men are related in some way or
2. the men are not related

FIND THE EVIDENCE

Your job as a genealogist is to find evidence that supports your guess (older men are brothers) or disproves it.  

You can start by listing the family groups you know from the 1870 census. Then search 1860 and 1850 census records to see if you can fit more of the men into proven families.

Look for other records that will help you straighten out those Blake males. Church records for baptisms, marriages or deaths. Obituaries in newspapers.  These are only a few of the record sources you should try next.

NEVER ASSUME

The most important piece of advice I can give is to NOT make assumptions! Create working theories if you like, such as your guess that the older men could be brothers. That can be your working theory. But don't assume it's correct. Work to prove or disprove it. If it turns out to be correct, pat yourself on the back and continue on. If it turns out to be wrong, form a new working theory and go from there.

It's okay to guess. It's okay to form a theory. But after you've formulated a guess or theory, you have to look for evidence that supports it. Because good Genealogy is based on facts and evidence, not guesses or unproven theories.