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The United States Census When our country was founded, our forefathers set in the constitution a provision for the counting of the citizens of the United States of America. If our country was to be governed by the people, the government needed to know the who and where of those people. Seats in the House of Representations, federal monetary allocations, votes in the Electoral College depend on the number of people residing in a given district. Article I, section 2, requires that a population census be taken every ten years. These population schedules contain much information needed by genealogists. Not only do they contain family groups, but special census list war pensioners, immigration and naturalization information, economic and cultural diversities. In general terms, the records are arranged by place of residence in this order: State, county, township, city or mail district. So it is important to have a general knowledge of where your ancestor lived. Each census contains different information. The first one in 1790 only listed head of family by name. The other people residing in the home were counted, but not named. It’s not until 1850 that individuals are listed with demographic information on each person (age, sex, color, occupation, etc.). In 1921, 99% of the 1890 census was destroyed in a fire. Small parts of 11 states and the Schedules for Union Civil War veterans and widows in Kentucky and the states following alphabetically survived. Census records are not released until 72 years after the information is gathered. This ensures the individuals’ privacy. The 1930 census was opened in 2002. To obtain information from census records after 1930, write to the Bureau of Census form BC-600 is available from Bureau of Census, P.O. Box 1545, Jefferson, IN 47131. The information requested must be specific and nonrestricted. In this area microfilmed copies of the census can be found at the National Archives on Banister Road and at the Genealogy Branch of the MidContinent Library in Independence. The Soundex Coding System The Soundex coding System is a way of organizing names that are similar. It is based on the way a name sounds. Each phonetic sound is given a numeric value. This helps when names can be misspelled through penmanship or illiteracy. Thus McComas, McCommis, and McCamas are all listed together. The code starts with the initial. Vowels A, E, I, O, U, Y are disregarded, as well as W and H. Double consonants are treated as one letter. Side-by-side letters with the same code (c, k, and s in Jackson) are treated as repeating letters. Names with prefixes (D’, De, Dela, Van, Von) should be coded with and without the prefix, and both used when searching the census records. Mc and Mac are not considered prefixes. The consonants are given the following values: Continue adding numbers until the
code reaches three numerals. If the
name is short, add zero’s (0). If
the name is long, disregard the rest of the name. American Indian names and Asian names provide a challenge. Depending on the person doing the indexing, these names were coded by the first word of the name (Shrieking Wind=S625) or by what could be the last name (W530). Be sure to check both codes. Soundex indexing is available on microfilm for: More information is available at the National Archives and Records Administration website at www.nara.gov |
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