Hi Folks: I have noticed several discussions on our BB about the subject matter. Here are some observations that I have made on the subject matter over the years. They may help you understand why you find some of the inaccurate census data regarding your ancestors. CENSUS MISINFORMATION PROBLEMS: Early federal and some state census records, especially those taken before 1900, often contain inaccurate and misspelled information. There are several reasons for this, but one of the major reasons is that the pay for census takers was very low and their educational achievements of the census takers were also very low. Most persons on the western frontier usually had less than a grammar school education; and a significant percentage had virtually no formal education. Another factor was that the spelling of names was not standardized to the degree it is today. Consequently, the census taker recorded the name as he (almost never she) heard it and assumed that it should be spelled. Often the persons interviewed didn't even know the correct or conventional spelling for their own names. The name spelling problem was especially great in communities and areas with a lot of new immigrants; since they often spoke little English and had strong accents from their native language. Another major reason for inaccurate or variable ages between census periods, was that the census takers pay was related to the number of persons he interviewed, in a limited time period. Consequently, like today's census takers, he didn't want to make a return visit; so he took the information from the oldest member of the family that may have been available at the time of his visit. That person could have been a senile senior or a very young teen-age housekeeper; instead of the head of the household, who might have been able to give more accurate data. There were also economic and social reasons for changing age data from census to census. Marriage was the primary reason for women, since they often misstated their age to their prospective marriage partner. Work, or military service, were often motivations for men; since laws in most states prescribed minimum ages for those activities; like they still do today. And lastly, published census records often contain transcription errors. The errors were often caused by misreading of poorly written source documents, misreading of faded or damaged source records and pressure to copy a certain number of records in specified time periods, in order to earn one's pay for the transcription work. Best wishes for a New Year of successful ancestor hunting. Tom King, Sr. Scottsdale, AZ

Interesting, Tom. And Happy New Year to you and your family!!! Cec in response to what [email protected] wrote: >Hi Folks: > >I have noticed several discussions on our BB about the subject matter. Here >are some observations that I have made on the subject matter over the years. >They may help you understand why you find some of the inaccurate census data >regarding your ancestors. > >CENSUS MISINFORMATION PROBLEMS: > >Early federal and some state census records, especially those taken before >1900, often contain inaccurate and misspelled information. There are several >reasons for this, but one of the major reasons is that the pay for census >takers was very low and their educational achievements of the census takers >were also very low. Most persons on the western frontier usually had less >than a grammar school education; and a significant percentage had virtually >no formal education. > >Another factor was that the spelling of names was not standardized to the >degree it is today. Consequently, the census taker recorded the name as he >(almost never she) heard it and assumed that it should be spelled. Often the >persons interviewed didn't even know the correct or conventional spelling for >their own names. The name spelling problem was especially great in >communities and areas with a lot of new immigrants; since they often spoke >little English and had strong accents from their native language. > >Another major reason for inaccurate or variable ages between census periods, >was that the census takers pay was related to the number of persons he >interviewed, in a limited time period. Consequently, like today's census >takers, he didn't want to make a return visit; so he took the information >from the oldest member of the family that may have been available at the time >of his visit. That person could have been a senile senior or a very young >teen-age housekeeper; instead of the head of the household, who might have >been able to give more accurate data. > >There were also economic and social reasons for changing age data from census >to census. Marriage was the primary reason for women, since they often >misstated their age to their prospective marriage partner. Work, or military >service, were often motivations for men; since laws in most states prescribed >minimum ages for those activities; like they still do today. > >And lastly, published census records often contain transcription errors. The >errors were often caused by misreading of poorly written source documents, >misreading of faded or damaged source records and pressure to copy a certain >number of records in specified time periods, in order to earn one's pay for >the transcription work. > >Best wishes for a New Year of successful ancestor hunting. > >Tom King, Sr. >Scottsdale, AZ > > > > > >==== CLOUD Mailing List ==== > .............................................................. > Join the Cloud Family Association: http://mykindred.com/cloud > >. > > >