As of this morning, the 1940 Nebraska Census records are 60% indexed and 45% arbitrated. You can help get Nebraska indexed and available online by volunteering and indexing records.
Get started indexing here.
Showing posts with label 1940 Census. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1940 Census. Show all posts
Friday, May 25, 2012
Sunday, April 8, 2012
My First Look at the 1940 Census
The news is out by now. The 1940 Census images were released on April 2, 2012. Due to time constraints, I wasn't able to do very much searching for my ancestors until this weekend. It has been quite an interesting journey with much more to come.
Since my Mom's family lived in a small town, Greenwood, Cass, Nebraska, I assumed they would be easy to locate in the census. I checked every page of the Greenwood village census and they weren't there. Knowing the family had lived in Omaha for a while in the 1940s, I thought they might be there. I wasn't quite ready to tackle a city of that size just yet, especially without an address.
I knew where my Dad's family lived in 1940, so using the tools at SteveMorse.org, I started looking for the Petersens in Lincoln, Lancaster, Nebraska. Can it get any easier than this? I found him on Page 6 (of 56!) living with his parents and his younger sister.
This photograph of Dad and his younger sister, Shirley, was probably taken around the time of this census. Their Grandma Pecht died in 1941, so I think that's a pretty good estimate.
In the census, it looks like my grandfather, Otto W. Petersen, provided the information. He said that his wife, Ruby, was born in Nebraska, but all other documents indicate she was born in Kansas, just across the border from Hardy, Nebraska, where many in my family lived for decades (and still do).
I couldn't decipher the handwriting for Otto's occupation, but Dad picked it out clearly, "Fuel Foreman." We both agreed on the "Steam Railroad" part of this data item.
As I shared the census images with Dad, he started yelling out names of their neighbors for me to look up. I couldn't keep up with him! I found several and will definitely go back for a closer look. It was one of those unplanned moments when I wasn't prepared to start jotting down notes as he reminisced about the old neighborhood.
After my success in finding the Petersen family, I had to turn my attention back to the Kellys and see if I could find Mom's family in Cass County. After browsing the list of districts, "Salt Creek" jumped out at me as I knew I had seen "Salt Creek Precinct" on many other documents related to my Cass County kin.
Without much of an effort, I found my grandparents, William and Sina Kelly, their son, "William Leroy Kelly, Jr" ("Jiggs") and my Mom, Patricia. In 60 years, I've never heard anyone refer to Jiggs as William, Bill or Leroy, so it's interesting that he is listed as LeRoy in the 1940 census. The two oldest daughters, Margaret and Helen ("Jerry") had moved out of the house by this time. Grandpa Kelly was a farm laborer. His family had been huge landholders and raised stocked until the Depression, so it would appear he may have been working for someone else as most of the family's land and assets were long gone by this time.
This photo would have been taken circa 1940-41 based on the birth date of Jerry's son. Mom looks like she was about 13 or 14.
As I read through the list of names of the people in Greenwood in the three Enumeration Districts, it was a very eerie feeling. I came across other relatives who I never knew other than by their name, as they had died before I was born. I recognized the names of the Landon family, my Sunday School teacher, the janitor from the school I attended from kindergarten through fifth grade. Most of those names I see only when I go to visit the Greenwood Cemetery.
The families in Greenwood had been there for at least three generations in 1940. My Mom's contemporaries were the parents of the kids I went to grade school with. Even though I was young, apparently I had a pretty good memory for people and their names, even if I'm not able to place a face to many of them.
These census records are some that I will go through several more times. I found Grandpa Kelly's brother, Paul and his wife, Elsie. And there was Grandpa Kelly's mother, Mary (Welch) Kelly, living with her other son, Francis. Her husband, Dan Kelly, had just died in February of 1940. After celebrating 50 years of marriage, she had to have been going through some transitions when the census taker came around.
I've since located my Dad's great grandparents, Jens and Caroline Petersen, in Hardy, Nuckolls, Nebraska, but I haven't found his other grandmother, Clara Pecht, pictured above, who was living in Beatrice, Gage, Nebraska in 1940. My other great grandparents, John and Emma Bellinger, were dead by this time.
Now comes the part of putting the stories together to go along with the records.
Since my Mom's family lived in a small town, Greenwood, Cass, Nebraska, I assumed they would be easy to locate in the census. I checked every page of the Greenwood village census and they weren't there. Knowing the family had lived in Omaha for a while in the 1940s, I thought they might be there. I wasn't quite ready to tackle a city of that size just yet, especially without an address.
I knew where my Dad's family lived in 1940, so using the tools at SteveMorse.org, I started looking for the Petersens in Lincoln, Lancaster, Nebraska. Can it get any easier than this? I found him on Page 6 (of 56!) living with his parents and his younger sister.
 |
| The Petersen family in Lincoln, Lancaster, Nebraska, 1940 |
 |
| Clara Laymon Pecht her grandchildren Kenneth Petersen Shirley Petersen circa 1940-41 |
In the census, it looks like my grandfather, Otto W. Petersen, provided the information. He said that his wife, Ruby, was born in Nebraska, but all other documents indicate she was born in Kansas, just across the border from Hardy, Nebraska, where many in my family lived for decades (and still do).
I couldn't decipher the handwriting for Otto's occupation, but Dad picked it out clearly, "Fuel Foreman." We both agreed on the "Steam Railroad" part of this data item.
As I shared the census images with Dad, he started yelling out names of their neighbors for me to look up. I couldn't keep up with him! I found several and will definitely go back for a closer look. It was one of those unplanned moments when I wasn't prepared to start jotting down notes as he reminisced about the old neighborhood.
After my success in finding the Petersen family, I had to turn my attention back to the Kellys and see if I could find Mom's family in Cass County. After browsing the list of districts, "Salt Creek" jumped out at me as I knew I had seen "Salt Creek Precinct" on many other documents related to my Cass County kin.
 |
| The Kelly Family in Greenwood, Cass, Nebraska in 1940. |
 |
| Mom - Patricia Kelly My Aunt Jerry with her baby, Joe Grandpa Bill Kelly |
As I read through the list of names of the people in Greenwood in the three Enumeration Districts, it was a very eerie feeling. I came across other relatives who I never knew other than by their name, as they had died before I was born. I recognized the names of the Landon family, my Sunday School teacher, the janitor from the school I attended from kindergarten through fifth grade. Most of those names I see only when I go to visit the Greenwood Cemetery.
The families in Greenwood had been there for at least three generations in 1940. My Mom's contemporaries were the parents of the kids I went to grade school with. Even though I was young, apparently I had a pretty good memory for people and their names, even if I'm not able to place a face to many of them.
These census records are some that I will go through several more times. I found Grandpa Kelly's brother, Paul and his wife, Elsie. And there was Grandpa Kelly's mother, Mary (Welch) Kelly, living with her other son, Francis. Her husband, Dan Kelly, had just died in February of 1940. After celebrating 50 years of marriage, she had to have been going through some transitions when the census taker came around.
I've since located my Dad's great grandparents, Jens and Caroline Petersen, in Hardy, Nuckolls, Nebraska, but I haven't found his other grandmother, Clara Pecht, pictured above, who was living in Beatrice, Gage, Nebraska in 1940. My other great grandparents, John and Emma Bellinger, were dead by this time.
Now comes the part of putting the stories together to go along with the records.
Telephone White Pages for Nebraska Cities Now Online
The Nebraska Access web site has published the 1940 telephone white pages for several Nebraska cities. Having trouble finding your kin in those census images? These books with street addresses should help narrow down that search. I've already spotted at least half a dozen long lost relatives in these pages.
This project was made possible by the collaborative efforts of the Omaha Public Library, the Lincoln Public Library and the Nebraska State Historical Society.
If you had kin in Nebraska in 1940, check these out!
Click here for phonebooks.
This project was made possible by the collaborative efforts of the Omaha Public Library, the Lincoln Public Library and the Nebraska State Historical Society.
If you had kin in Nebraska in 1940, check these out!
Click here for phonebooks.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Plan to Attend 1940 Census Celebration on March 25 in Lincoln
Tracing one's family history is hotter than ever right now. Much of that is due to the popularity of television programs such as NBC's Who Do You Think You Are and Faces of America on PBS. It's not just celebrities who can trace their roots - anyone can learn how to find their ancestors.
The link for this post is http://longlostrelatives-smp.blogspot.com/2012/03/plan-to-attend-1940-census-celebration.html
On April 2, 2012, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) will provide free online access to the digital images from the 1940 census for the first time. Beginning genealogists can jump start their research by looking at images from the 1940 census. Census records are not released until 72 years after the census takers went door to door to find out information about American households. Genealogists may find themselves, their parents or grandparents shown in the 1940 census records.
Locally, the Lincoln-Lancaster County Genealogical Society (LLCGS) is hosting a 1940 Census Celebration kick-off event on Sunday, March 25, 2012 at 1:30 p.m. at Walt Branch Library, 6701 South 14th Street, Lincoln. The featured speaker will be Lori-Cox Paul, director of Archival Operations at the National Archives in Kansas City. She will talk about the release of the census records and what individuals can do to help index the records to make them searchable by family history researchers. She will also share tips on how to browse the images before the indexing project is complete by knowing the census enumeration districts to look in.
The 1940 Census Celebration will feature music of the 1940s, exhibits and memorabilia. The event is being co-sponsored by the Nebraska State Historical Society.
Among the types of information included in the 1940 Census records are the names of each person living in a household, the street address, if the home was owned or rented, the value of the home, age at last birthday, occupation, marital status, place of birth, education level completed, birth place of the father and mother and many other tidbits of information. This information becomes a gold mine for the genealogists as a way to find clues to connect one generation to the next.
All LLCGS monthly programs are free and open to the public. For more information contact Judi Cook, Program Chair, 402.483.1239 or visit the LLCGS web site.
The link for this post is http://longlostrelatives-smp.blogspot.com/2012/03/plan-to-attend-1940-census-celebration.html
Friday, March 2, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Giving Back to the Genealogy Community
For the past seven years, the majority of my genealogy research has been done online using sites such as Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, Fold3.com, Archives.com, Genealogybank.com, NewspaperArchive.com just to name a few. I have been fortunate in finding hundreds of my ancestors and allied families because of the work of thousands (hundreds of thousands?) of volunteers who have indexed billions of images.
With the upcoming release of the 1940 census, an excellent opportunity exists to give back to the genealogy community by doing some indexing of my own. I had done some indexing of Ancestry.com records a few years ago, but the release of the census has created a new motivation to help out.
I started by becoming an Ambassador for the 1940 census by sharing my information and discoveries here on LongLostRelatives.net. The first stop is the1940census.com. That's where you, too, can sign up to help index the census. To get ready, you can get some practice by indexing other images. I chose an easy batch to work on, the World War I registrations. I selected five batches of 25 records each.
I was already familiar with the information in this database since I've added a lot of these images to my trees on Ancestry.com. Each image appears and the indexer types in information such as Given Name, Surname, Date of Birth, Location of Birth, and Native country.
Interpreting handwriting is essential to the project. I know how frustrated I have been when someone has not entered information correctly on an image I'm looking at. In this regard, I've found both Wikipedia and Google to help me index. If I am unable to interpret the name of a city or town, I search for it on Wikipedia. For example, I search for "cities in Kansas." I can peruse or search the page listing all cities, looking for something similar to the handwriting on the document. This technique has worked for all of the images I have indexed so far.
Surnames aren't quite so easy. This is where Google comes in. I type in my best interpretation of the surname and add the word "surname" to my search. This nearly always gives me the option that matches the image. It's certainly better than just guessing at the handwriting.
I've really found this to be a rewarding activity, and I really feel as though I am able to give a little back to the genealogy community.
Back to that indexing!
With the upcoming release of the 1940 census, an excellent opportunity exists to give back to the genealogy community by doing some indexing of my own. I had done some indexing of Ancestry.com records a few years ago, but the release of the census has created a new motivation to help out.
I started by becoming an Ambassador for the 1940 census by sharing my information and discoveries here on LongLostRelatives.net. The first stop is the1940census.com. That's where you, too, can sign up to help index the census. To get ready, you can get some practice by indexing other images. I chose an easy batch to work on, the World War I registrations. I selected five batches of 25 records each.
 |
| Image from FamilySearch Indexing Software World War I Registration Database |
Interpreting handwriting is essential to the project. I know how frustrated I have been when someone has not entered information correctly on an image I'm looking at. In this regard, I've found both Wikipedia and Google to help me index. If I am unable to interpret the name of a city or town, I search for it on Wikipedia. For example, I search for "cities in Kansas." I can peruse or search the page listing all cities, looking for something similar to the handwriting on the document. This technique has worked for all of the images I have indexed so far.
Surnames aren't quite so easy. This is where Google comes in. I type in my best interpretation of the surname and add the word "surname" to my search. This nearly always gives me the option that matches the image. It's certainly better than just guessing at the handwriting.
I've really found this to be a rewarding activity, and I really feel as though I am able to give a little back to the genealogy community.
Back to that indexing!
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Finding Family in the 1940 Census
It is only 37 days until the release of the images from the 1940 Census. This census will mark the second appearance of my parents in census records. Both were under five years of age in the 1930 census, so by 1940 they were in their early teen years, just starting high school.
While I can't tie down these images specifically to 1940, they are certainly within about a year of when the census was taken.
I will be looking for my Mom in the census for Greenwood, Cass county, Nebraska and Dad will be in Lincoln, Lancaster, Nebraska.
Since the 1940 census images will not be indexed on the day they are released to the public, the first step in planning to find images is to determine the potential enumeration districts where your family members lived.
The search for this information begins at The National Archives. On the search page, I typed in "1940 census greenwood nebraska" (without quotes). The results gave me the following information:
I've now narrowed down the images where I need to look for Mom's family in the 1940 census. As I learn more about the process and locating my kin, I'll share it here on LongLostRelatives.net. I've also started "Spring Training" for indexing census records by indexing several batches of World War II draft registration documents. I'll write more about that in another blog post.
Thanks to Randy Seaver of the Genea-Musings blog - I followed his instructions for locating this information.
 |
| Patricia Landon Kelly circa 1940 |
|
| Clara Laymon Pecht, Shirley Jean Petersen Kenneth Leroy Petersen circa 1940 |
I will be looking for my Mom in the census for Greenwood, Cass county, Nebraska and Dad will be in Lincoln, Lancaster, Nebraska.
Since the 1940 census images will not be indexed on the day they are released to the public, the first step in planning to find images is to determine the potential enumeration districts where your family members lived.
The search for this information begins at The National Archives. On the search page, I typed in "1940 census greenwood nebraska" (without quotes). The results gave me the following information:
NE ED 13-23: SALT CREEK ELECTION PRECINCT, GREENWOOD VILLAGE.
NE ED 13-24: SALT CREEK ELECTION PRECINCT OUTSIDE GREENWOOD VILLAGE.
I've now narrowed down the images where I need to look for Mom's family in the 1940 census. As I learn more about the process and locating my kin, I'll share it here on LongLostRelatives.net. I've also started "Spring Training" for indexing census records by indexing several batches of World War II draft registration documents. I'll write more about that in another blog post.
Thanks to Randy Seaver of the Genea-Musings blog - I followed his instructions for locating this information.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Become a 1940 Census Ambassador - or Indexing Volunteer!
Upon its release, the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project, a joint initiative between Archives.com, FamilySearch, findmypast.com and other leading genealogy organizations, will coordinate efforts to provide quick access to these digital images and immediately start indexing these records to make them searchable online with free and open access.
You can help make history! You can sign up to be an indexing volunteer and designate the volunteer group you wish to be affiliated with - if you have one. The next step is to download the indexing software. And get started making the index available free and to the public!
Genealogy bloggers can also play a role by becoming a 1940 Blog Ambassador! You can sign up, as I have, and you can get badges for your site or blog. There is exclusive content, blog post and contest ideas, blogger events, project updates and more. I can't think of a better way to spread the word and be a part of this community to help make the index of these images available to the public as quickly as possible.
Genealogists are a generous and giving group of people. Show your support by becoming an indexing volunteer and/or Ambassador today!
Let us know your intent to participate. Please leave a comment below if you will be joining the 1940 Census community!
content adapted from the1940census.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)