1940 census is FULLY indexed! (accuracy, person, accurate, records)

[Steel Man]

I found most relatives, but not my Great Grandfather. I know he was alive in 1940 as I've seen a land document he signed in 1943 (Oklahoma).

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Steel Man

I found most relatives, but not my Great Grandfather. I know he was alive in 1940 as I've seen a land document he signed in 1943 (Oklahoma).

Based on my experience... try other possible spellings and misspellings of your name, and be sure to search the whole country, not just Oklahoma. I looked for one of my relatives in Virgiania, where they ALWAYS lived, except that in one census he was in Pennsylvania... who knew?

Even more unexpected, a Canadian great grandfather was born and raised and lived and died in Nova Scotia... except for one year when he could not be found on the Canadian census... although his wife and children were there... and then, I found him on the US Census, in Pennsylvania!!

So who knows, have you looked for him in Pennsylvania?

[Steel Man]

Originally Posted by OpenD

Based on my experience... try other possible spellings and misspellings of your name, and be sure to search the whole country, not just Oklahoma. I looked for one of my relatives in Virgiania, where they ALWAYS lived, except that in one census he was in Pennsylvania... who knew?

Even more unexpected, a Canadian great grandfather was born and raised and lived and died in Nova Scotia... except for one year when he could not be found on the Canadian census... although his wife and children were there... and then, I found him on the US Census, in Pennsylvania!!

So who knows, have you looked for him in Pennsylvania?

I did do searches with many different variations but no luck. Have been doing lots of google searches trying to find about his death, or his wife's death, but no luck. I'll keep looking. I'm also trying to locate some relatives that may have known him.

[hymnsinger]

I found an entire sheet of white people recorded as "negro" in Butler Co., Alabama, my 2nd great grandparents among them! The enumerator tried to take a short cut and forgot where she had been! Geesh!

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Steel Man

I did do searches with many different variations but no luck. Have been doing lots of google searches trying to find about his death, or his wife's death, but no luck. I'll keep looking. I'm also trying to locate some relatives that may have known him.

Google searches are a lot less likely to turn up something personal from 1940 than are the specialized genealogy databases you can access for free at any LDS Family History Center. And they have helpful people there. I highly recommend it.

[Peggy Anne]

There are mistakes on the census forms. I always double check other sources. I refuse to pay a fee for information, and I have heard too many credit card horror stories with some of the rip off genealogy places. The 14 day free trial netted me so much spam, I was very angry.

[nightbird47]

Originally Posted by bjh

Okay, well, all of www.familysearch.org is free anywhere, anytime. They are all volunteer so their 1940 indexing is taking a bit longer.

ancestry.com usually charges everyone except on-site library users, if the library has a (rather expensive) subscription for the database. Libraries pay much more for subscriptions than individuals do.

ancestry is allowing people to search the 1940 census for free, probably because the government has made the resource free. Their other sources are another story.

I looked up most on the offical site and wrote down my information and finally found my grandfather with a search. (Dumped my grandfather for a younger model, moved a lot for a while from what I could tell). I have ancestry and like to keep my records together. Now I can look them up again and save them where I can find them.

There are some VERY esoteric things in Ancestry's records, and since losing track of the disprment list of convicts from one of the first post Transportation act to bring convicts under bondage which includes a five x g grandfather, I write down my searches now. I WILL find it again someday.

At least I wrote down the info. I don't like familysearch's correction policy. Ive found spelling errors in family names and don't like that you can't even submit a correction.

[bjh]

^
Print out results or save a screen shot. Here's how: in Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) press Alt+Prnt Scrn. This puts the image on your web browser in your clipboard, like copying does. Next, go to Paint, which almost every PC has. Press Ctrl+V to paste the image in Paint. Then do a Save As, give it a name. It's yours, including most or all of the URL.

Here's another thought. I sometimes save URLs in a Notepad file, if they'll be needed later. Just click on the URL. Press Ctl+A to select the entire URL. Ctr+C to copy then Ctrl+V to paste in a Notepad file. A quick note as to what it is. Save and name the file.

[nitram]

Well we're a little bit disappointed in the 40 census. The census info on my family is all screwed up. My mothers name is incorrect, not even close, and my middle initial is incorrect and my age is off by 20 years. Plus the rest of the form is so scribbly written out you cannot figure out what was written, even when it's blown up 10 times the size. The only accurate part is my fathers name and the address. Oh yes my grandmother is completely missing too.

[OpenD]

I know you're disappointed, Nitram, but keep in mind that these records were never meant to be used for tracing families and individuals the way we do with them now. They were primarily meant as a count of people that would be used to establish representation in The Congress, as well as being used for other government analysis and calculation.

But I have to say, having tried to work with microfilmed records before the days of computerized indexes, the current state of the art... finding relatives in indexes in moment, then pulling up scans of the actual pages, over the internet, in the comfort of my own home, simply miraculous.

It's not a perfect system, but it is pretty darned amazing.