> I have an ancestor who was a merchant seaman on the Great Lakes. In > 1880 he is not enumerated with his wife & children in Milwaukee, and > I have not found him via familysearch.org. > > Was there any special enumeration of men at sea on census dates? > Also, how were American citizens enumerated who were traveling by > ship on a census date (i.e., traveling to or from Europe)? > > Kathleen Craine <KACraine@aol.com> Someone else you won't find on the 1880 census (the originals, the Soundex, or the LDS' CDs) is John S. Mosby, US Consul in Hong Kong. I found that odd, so I contacted the Census Bureau. US Citizens who were not physically in what is now "the lower 48" were not enumerated (even if they were the US Consul). There was a footnote or twelve to that; mostly concerning the US military. Additionally, there's that tidbit concerning what the enumerator was supposed to ask; in some years, they asked for "usually domiciled", in others, it was "slept the night". I don't remember what it was in 1880, but if it was either asked or interpreted as "who was in the house on (date)" results can become, er, fascinating. Cheryl singhals@erols.com