October 24, 2002

1:26 AM

The 1880 census went online yesterday. I found my Great Grandfather John S Roberds. Born in 1847(100 years before me) he was farming in Missouri when his household was documented. My Grandfather Oscar was 6 in 1880. From my Great Grandfathers household I only know what happened to Oscar. He died crossing Woodward ave. going to work at Ford Motor Co.
posted by JohnR (24 comments total)

It took 17 years for church volunteers to transcribe handwritten 1880 census records and type them into the database.

wow
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 1:45 AM on October 24, 2002

way cool. but also kinda freaky in ways, especially when going through the data at this late-night hour. i wish the "Household" link on the right-side was more noticable.
posted by gluechunk at 2:13 AM on October 24, 2002

They're Mormons. If they ran out of volunteers, they just made more.

This is pretty cool in a lot of ways. Not only are some of the core data sources coming online, but software -- unlike paper genealogical research -- allows people to create their own family trees, upload them, and find commonalities -- potentially linking themselves into a vast navigable family tree. When I think of the blue-haired ladies blowing dust off the old city directories in the historical society where my dad worked while I grew up, this just seems phenomenal.

It's so quaint the way they list women's occupation as "Keeping House".
posted by dhartung at 2:30 AM on October 24, 2002

Just keep in mind that spelling, then as now, was more of an art form than a science. What you often get is a surnamed filtered through the census taker's imagination. Moreover, the transcriptionists (bless'em!) are also prone to making mistakes -- the overwhelming majority are understandable and forgivable to anyone who has ever seen the handwriting on these documents firsthand. Others are inexplicable (I caught several gaffes on relatives of mine where the handwriting was crystal clear). Luckily, they seem to be using a soundex mechanism in their search engine, so the problem is slightly ameliorated.

The opportunities for genealogists on Internet are astounding. Even before the full impact of the web made itself known, I had used early resources to take a family line of mine back to the early 1400's.
posted by RavinDave at 2:50 AM on October 24, 2002

Looking into the archives of my ancestry, I can't help but be reminded of this comic.

(from abuddhas memes)
posted by iamck at 2:56 AM on October 24, 2002

Thank you tons for finding that. I have been waiting for it for quite awhile.
posted by konolia at 3:24 AM on October 24, 2002

This is incredible. I hope we don't have to wait so long for subsequent census data to be made available. I found the segment of my family that was here in the U.S. in 1880, my maternal grandmother's family. I've found her parents, and theirs, and aunts and uncles (though greatly removed) that I didn't know I had, and whose decendants I'd love to find.

It's so quaint the way they list women's occupation as "Keeping House".

What would you prefer?
posted by Dreama at 4:14 AM on October 24, 2002

"Soiled Dove"? "House of Ill Fame"?

(Seen both of those locally in earlier censuses).
posted by RavinDave at 4:36 AM on October 24, 2002

I found the part of my family that was here in 1880. I also found my grandmother's social security records, which included her actual social security number.
That gave me a moment's pause. How do the Mormons get access to information like that? I didn't realize things like social security numbers were public information.
posted by Kellydamnit at 7:48 AM on October 24, 2002

How do the Mormons get access to information like that? I didn't realize things like social security numbers were public information.

After a certain period of time, they become public information. The information is readily available from government offices, usually for a small processing fee.
posted by oissubke at 8:16 AM on October 24, 2002

The time period, I believe is 100 years... to allow most of those folks to die, so I wouldn't be expecting the 1940 census any time soon.
posted by silusGROK at 8:38 AM on October 24, 2002

Oddly enough, I found my father and my grandfather in the Social Security rosters. It's strange because I had forgotten when my father had been killed. It appears that it was 9 years ago, as of tomorrow.

Of course, this kind of thing would happen right before Halloween.
posted by thanotopsis at 10:00 AM on October 24, 2002

After a certain period of time, they become public information. The information is readily available from government offices, usually for a small processing fee.

I was aware of that, but how long? My grandmother died less than 20 years ago, closer to 15 actually. Were she alive today she wouldn't even be 100 yet, which I, too, thought was the time when things like that became public information.
posted by Kellydamnit at 10:11 AM on October 24, 2002

Kellydamnit, in genealogical circles it is considered acceptable to share information about the deceased. Information on people who might still be alive is usually held until 110 years after their date of birth.

The Social Security Death Index is updated regularly, and is available in several places on the Internet. You can also order a copy of the original Social Security number application. Because they are government records, they are in the public domain. Here is some info about the data release: "The Social Security Death Index is generated from the U.S. Social Security Administrations Death Master File. It contains the records of deceased persons who possessed Social Security numbers and whose death had been reported to the SSA. In most cases a report of death was made in connection with Social Security death benefits." There is a lot of information on using the SSDI for research at the RootsWeb Guide to Tracing Family Trees.

If you are excited about in the 1880 census release, and are looking for other freely available census data (Ancestry and Heritage Quest have most of the census data available for a fee), you might want to visit CensusLinks.com or Census-Online.com. Both are extensive indicies of online census transcriptions, including many international census reports. If you seek general information on how the census works in general, and where to find additional information for research purposes, visit the U.S. Census page at Cyndi's List of Genealogical Sites on the Internet.

P.S. Can we skip the snide remarks about Mormons having too many babies? Reproduction is always a choice each person gets to make for themselves, on the basis of their own belief system. I think it's a good idea not to disparage that so glibly.
posted by jengod at 10:50 AM on October 24, 2002

I disapprove.
posted by thirteen at 11:32 AM on October 24, 2002

Social Security numbers become available ten years after death.

I spent several months this summer attempting to uncover many details about my family tree. I was amazed at how many family trees I could plug mine into, with little effort, and with a fair expectation of accuracy. Three different branches went back to the 17th century, and I believe I solved the mysterious origins of an adopted great-grandfather.

That said, the original source materials are always best. You simply should not put too much faith in the work of other people, even in the case of hand-typed census records. Look for the scans or the original document. People make mistakes, they exaggerate, they lie, they invent facts. In some cases I have received information marked "unreadable," but when I looked at the original record in a scanned form, it was perfectly readable to me. Also, many people are more concerned about increasing the length of their "line" and the number of names in their database than they are about accuracy. They'll invent a family member just to connect a pre-existing tree to their own. So check, recheck, and try to find original sources wherever possible.

Because of my uncertainty of some of the data I uncovered last year, I am preparing to retackle the project. This includes finding the original creators of some of the trees (which in digital form are copied and passed back and forth, with outright stealing and lies about authorship taking place), and copying or scanning original documents where possible.
posted by Mo Nickels at 12:06 PM on October 24, 2002

P.S. Can we skip the snide remarks about Mormons having too many babies? Reproduction is always a choice each person gets to make for themselves, on the basis of their own belief system. I think it's a good idea not to disparage that so glibly.

Are you kidding? This is MeFi, where it's *always* Mormon hunting season! :-)
posted by oissubke at 1:37 PM on October 24, 2002

Note that if you are in a large city like Los Angeles/Chicago/NY/Washington, you likely already have free access to all censuses up to 1930 in the local LDS Family History Center or large public library - just not necessarily freely online yet. :)
posted by benh57 at 5:33 PM on October 24, 2002

You can check out the FHC Locator to find the Family History Center nearest you. The church has almost 4000 of them, if I recall correctly, all over the world.

In addition to having amazing stores of information in print and other formats, they also usually provide free full-member access to sites like Ancestry.com. Many people go there for that alone.
posted by oissubke at 6:36 PM on October 24, 2002

Hear that?

Ah, it's the sound of thousands of people across the US gasping in shock as they find out their great grandmothers weren't actually Cherokee princesses.
posted by Poagao at 6:58 PM on October 24, 2002

I said nothing about "too many" babies, just lots. For the record. If you want to take that as snide, that's your problem. /humorlessfilter

As I've noted before, I now have an interest in determining whether I'm related to William Hartung, the policy analyst; Vladimir Nabokov, who was about four generations removed from some East Prussian Hartungs; the publishing Hartungs in that same branch (both a bit unlikely, as my ancestors were farmers); and I'm trying to nail down the political situation in the precise part of Germany at the precise time when my ancestors left. My Dad has a family genealogy book (originally compiled a century ago, and updated 30 years ago) -- which is in a box somewhere, alas -- and would help a lot. Anyway.
posted by dhartung at 7:04 PM on October 24, 2002

Poagao:
Interesting you should mention that. My Grandmother was a Blackfoot indian.
posted by JohnR at 7:27 PM on October 25, 2002

And my grandmother was an Anadarko indian. Not a princess, but moving further up the line her family was a part of the tribal leadership.
posted by Dreama at 7:37 PM on October 25, 2002

He died crossing Woodward ave.

Crossing Woodward, or John R.?

(Sorry, former Detroiter, couldn't resist....)

The time period, I believe is 100 years... to allow most of those folks to die, so I wouldn't be expecting the 1940 census any time soon.

The time period for Census returns to be made available is 72 years. The 1930 Census became available in April of this year.

This release by the Mormons of the 1880 Census abstract was actually originally made on CD-ROM about a year ago. I'd looked up most of my family at my local Family History Center at that time, but it's very nice to have this available on the web so I can look up the people I forgot to look for at my own leisure.
posted by geneablogy at 4:33 PM on October 26, 2002