Sue's Cook Book, Recipe #12 TIPS FOR USING CENSUS RECORDS I took an item entitled "Don'ts When Using Census Records" from The Yellow Jacket of the Great River Genealogical Society in Adams Co., Illinois, and adapted it for Recipe #12. The original author is unknown. The first sentence in each statement is from the original item. Comments that follow are mine. 1. DON'T assume the spelling of the name is as you know it today. Use every possible phonetic spelling, being sure to consider the dialect of the area in which you are searching. For instance, some areas in this country dropped the final "r" from words--other areas added one where none existed. 2. DON'T assume the relationship to the head of the household is as stated. For instance, the word "cousin" was used to indicate almost any degree of cousin-ship and sometimes for other relationships such as niece or nephew. 3. DON'T assume the wife is the mother of any or all of the children listed. I would take this a step further--DON'T assume that the husband is the father either. Children will usually be listed as son or daughter, even if it is a step-relationship and may even be listed with a step-father's surname. 4. DON'T assume that the ages listed provide a birth year. They are often inaccurate. 5. DON'T forget to copy the information at the top of the page, as well as ALL data to the right of the occupation column. Better yet, make a photocopy of the whole page! 6. DON'T forget to copy all families of your surname in the county. In a large county, you may want to narrow this a bit. DON'T forget to copy the neighbors too. Four Smiths in a row with a Jones in the middle may indicate a daughter who married a Jones. Remember, too, that most people married someone in the neighborhood and many times families migrated from one location to another in groups. 7. DON'T think the records before 1850 can't help. They may have only one name listed, but they will give you a family size and location--it's a place to start. 8. DON'T think that the census data gives all the answers. In fact, DON'T assume it gives any answers--look for primary sources to back it up! 9. DON'T forget that the 1880 and beyond records give additional data. Even if you found your family in 1870, you will still want to look at the 1880 census. 10. DON'T forget the 1890 veteran's census if your ancestor served in the military. Widows are listed too. 11. DON'T stop with the Soundex findings; go to the original census record! 12. DON'T believe the census indexes to be either correct or complete. I have found people on the census who were not listed in the index by searching the whole town, family by family. 13. DON'T forget about the state census records. They often have different information and they can fill in gaps between federal census years. Good luck Cookies! Sue Roe SueMHR@aol.com