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CREATIVE CENSUS TECHNIQUES Presented by Terry Lasky, March 13, 2005 Why Do We Need Creative Techniques? Most databases support 2 or 3 very useful research techniques · American Soundex · Daitch-Mokotoff Soundex · Wildcards Two examples as to why we need creative techniques · Success rate · My family surname My family name is Zaslawsky – I have found 50 different spellings in the documents I have (Census, Birth Certs, Death Certs, Naturalization, Boats, Marriages, Military, etc.) Normal search methods include:  Zasl*  Sasl*  Saslawsky (soundex)  Zaslawsky (soundex)  Saslavsky (soundex)  Zaslavsky (soundex) All of the following are found using the above techniques Saslansky, Saslasky, Saslausky, Saslavsky, Saslawska, Saslawski, Saslawsky, Saslazky,  Saslofski, Saslofsky, Saslovsky, Saslowo, Saslowski, Saslowsky, Sasslowsky, Sazlasky, Seslewsky, Soslasky, Soslawsky, Soslofsky, Soslowski, Soslowsky, Zaclackny, Zaislawska, Zaslafsky, Zaslasky, Zaslausky, Zaslavsky, Zaslawkey, Zaslawski, Zaslawsky, Zaslofsky, Zaslovsky, Zaslowski, Zaslowsky, Zazlowski, Zoslowsky, Zaslowsky/ Saslavsky Dazlowski, Jaslawsky, Ladowsky, Laslawsky, Salslovsky, Sasmawsky, Solosky, Solospe, Sznlovsky, Zalesky, Zalovsky, Zeovsloski, Zulosher Tenenzweig   Temenzweig, Tanzweig, Kenenzweig Gross    Grows Averitt    Avertte Baker    Backer Berliantzik   Birljanzik / Birljawzik (dittoed) Singerman   Siwgerman, Fingerman, Lingermano, Lingiermann Saltzman   Satteman Most of these were misread (indexed wrong), not how it was actually spelled on the document First Name problems are even worse (most due to nicknames, Hebrew/Yiddish names, etc.) Abraham    Abol Gertrude    Gussie, Gittel Israel     Isidore Lee     Lena GENERAL INFORMATION · All techniques discussed here have been used successfully at least once · Some examples are fabricated (can’t remember real case) · Have found about 50-67% of those I have tried using these techniques · These techniques should only be used after trying “normal” approaches · Emphasis is on 1900-1930 although techniques applicable to all years · 3-5 million people missed in each census – they just might not be there · Some techniques applicable to other than census (Ellis Island, etc.) MAJOR SUBJECTS/TECHNIQUES · Tools Needed · Beware the Quirks (Aka:  Understanding Ancestry & Heritage Quest) · *Less is More · It’s All Relative · Given Name (and other name) Syndromes · Younger is Better · Addresses are Valuable · Unique (Unusual) Approaches · *Think Outside the Box · Summary TOOLS NEEDED A Good Log Book · Log each try so you don’t repeat the same effort · Log each person you look at that is not the correct person Time · Don’t try these unless you have adequate time at each sitting A LARGE GLASS OF WINE! UNDERSTANDING ANCESTRY & HERITAGE QUEST      ANCESTRY   HERITAGE 1930     every name   very sparse 1920     head of household  head of household 1910     head of household  head of household 1900     every name   head of household 1890     very sparse   very sparse 1880     every name   none 1870     every name   head of household Age or Birth year   exact    ten year range Wildcard    * and ?    none Soundex    yes    no Birthplace    yes    yes Current state/county/city  yes    yes Sorting     no    yes Others     some - different each year no      (race, immigration year, relationship, gender, parents/spouse name, etc.) *Head of Household – Includes Head of Household AND anyone in house with different surname ANCESTRY QUIRKS 1930 –  Non-Head of Household Query by Place of Birth Yields No Hits   Non-Head of Household Query by Race Yields No Hits 1910 –  Place of Birth Query only returns results for USA births Wildcard  Requires at least first three characters (e.g.  ZA* disallowed)   ? replaces a single character (e.g. Zasl?wsky = a, e, i…..)   Wildcards can be combined (e.g.  Zasl?w* is legal) Age  1900, 1930 Uses year of birth    Formula used so often off by one year    Not always the same as year in the actual census (1 year diff.)   1910, 1920 Uses age of person    Fractional years used up to age of 4 or 5    Query by 3 yields 3, 3/12. 2 3/12, etc.    For less than 1 year old must use 12 and 0 ANCESTRY CLUES · Always Use “Exact Match” not “Best Match (Ranked)” when using these techniques · Always Use lowest level possible – more query capabilities · Not all hits shown – must hit “view all” to see all hits · Don’t combine wildcards and soundex (results very hard to understand) · Look for Quirks in every Ancestry database (and utilize them)  Baltimore Passengers yields many hits that don’t match query   Also gives hits if name matches person they were coming to see   I put in name of my relative to see who came to see them  Baltimore Passengers allow keywords   Name of town visited is one of them   I entered Akron (Ohio) to see who was going there LESS IS MORE · People are scared of long lists – But this is what you want!! · The LESS in the query the better the chance of finding misspellings, name differences, etc. · DO NOT BE SHOOK UP (OR GIVE UP) IF YOU GET A LONG LIST RETURNED · Returned data is sorted, you don’t always have to look at all of it   Sort order is dependent upon what fields were entered in query  Sort may be by state, county OR alpha by last name OR alpha by first name, etc.  Take advantage by “jumping” to most logical places first · The BEST query is one that doesn’t have anything for last name LESS IS MORE – ACTUAL CASE  Valeria Boyd, married Milton Durne, born about 1893 Ohio, family/marriage in Colorado  Normal methods failed to find anything  Val* and 1892/1893 yielded long list    Over 800 in list (When I did it – more now and sorted differently)   Jumped to last name starting with D (as a starting point) Valerie Donne in MA  found (ended up being the correct person) Using Dur* would not have worked Using soundex would not have worked Using Valeria would not have worked Born Ohio wouldn’t work (1930 Ancestry quirk – not head of household) IT’S ALL RELATIVE · Most people ignore the spouse’s family – especially important on female relatives · Need to know spouse’s family – from obits, cemeteries, census, etc. · Head of household  Usually male but not always  Could be father, mother, brother or unmarried sister (married sister not useful)  **Could be husband’s father, mother or brother Example case:  My Aunt Rose married Sam Brooks  Sam had brother’s Bernard, Martin and Morris and married sister Shirley  Checked all three brothers-in-law (sister not important) – found with brother Bernard GIVEN NAME SYNDROMES Jews often changed to their middle names (several reasons)  I have over twenty relatives that did this Find Hebrew names – try both Americanized first and middle names (partial with * is best) Use as little of given name as possible (or none)  Dav* instead of Davis or David;  Ter* instead of Terry or Teri or Terrence  Gittle vs Gertrude and Lee vs Lena  and Rachel vs Ruchel (even wildcard won’t help) Example Cases:  Grandfather was always Davis – found name to be Samuel Davis (Sam was key)  Aunt was always Lee – found name to be Ruchel Lea (found one document under Rachael)        Found rest under Lena OTHER NAME CLUES Try just an initial – men sometimes do this If person often used both names try using middle initial also (e.g. John L) Even try using middle initial only (e.g. L) Note:  Ancestry uses a “synonym” approach for you  If you try John you also get Jno, etc.   Ancestry does not tell you which names it has synonyms for Example Cases  Joseph Hyman Cohen – found a J H Cohen in census (used only J Cohen) YOUNGER IS BETTER Go after children instead of adults  Must be on an every name census year (Ancestry 1900 or 1930)  Children’s names are often more stable (especially if born in USA)  Age is usually more accurate – older people’s age varies greatly from census to census  Children are at home, one parent may be elsewhere  Even children over 21 are sometimes at home Parents often reside with a child  Useful in non-every name censuses  Finding child often yields parents ADDRESSES ARE VALUABLE Get every possible address   city directory  marriage license  birth certificate of child  death certificate  military draft Use correct city directory (one compiled closest to census date)   1900 census – June (1901 directory best)   1910 census – April (use 1911 & 1910), 1920 census – January (1920 best) 1930 census – April (use 1931 & 1930) Use Stephen Morse site to get Enumeration District (primarily 1910-30) Use Mapquest to find all streets around the location  Use actual state (not query capability) to find correct enumeration district  Doesn’t work for all years/states – only those that show boundaries (not 1910) UNIQUE (UNUSUAL) APPROACHES Check different first letters of last name  Index created by people – letters often misread  People creating index not well versed in old flowing style of letter writing  Most often confused Upper case letters S & L, U & V, T & F  Others sometimes confused are  F & H, J & I, K & R, P & R, W & M Lower case letters also (in middle of names)  k & t, s & l, b & f, y & g   are most common Use original microfilm index cards at NARA, Denver Public Library  Original index was best – done by people familiar with writing style and names  Heritage better than Ancestry 1930 Ancestry allows for mother, father and spouse name  Found 5 families by using first name of child, mother and father and state  None were found using other methods  Ignoring last name is the BEST query possible THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX Annie/Hannah married Jacob Czuchschneider and lived in Norwalk, Ohio  Small town so tried Norwalk & born Russia, Romania, Austria, Poland  Found J Sneider If person arrived in US shortly before a census (or family didn’t come until after census)  Find name/address of person he came to visit on boat record – locate them  Often a cousin or relative with same last name Don’t know who a female relative married  Try partial first name (no last name), county, place of birth, age, etc.  May have to look at actual census for many hits, but it works Take advantage of 1900 Ancestry capability of year of immigration  No name & Birthplace = Poland & Imm Year = 1898 & State = Ohio   yields 479 sorted alphabetically – can be searched fairly quickly SUMMARY - ANCESTRY VS HERITAGE Always try both Ancestry and Heritage using normal techniques first Use Ancestry when   when wildcards are essential  when soundex is needed  searching for non-Head of Household  searching 1930 or 1880 Use Heritage when   using no last name (sort capability is beneficial)  when sorting is critical  age range is the most important factor  image quality is bad on Ancestry SUMMARY Use a Log Book Beware of Ancestry Quirks  1930 – Non Head of Household – don’t use place of birth or race  1910 – Don’t use place of birth if outside of USA  Don’t use Best Match  Don’t combine Wildcards and Soundex  Understand how age works (especially children under 1 year old)  Use lowest level of querying possible  Make sure to view all “hits” Less is More  If at all possible don’t use last name at all  Don’t be scared of long lists Pay attention to spouses’ family – your relative is often living with them Recognize all given name possibilities  Use only partials or none at all  Use only initials (first initial or just middle initial) Look for children instead of adults (in every name index years) Find addresses on documents – skip index and go directly to census pages Try using different first letters of last name Try using different spellings that give different soundex codes Try to find approaches that do not use last names (even partials or soundexes) THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX Back to the Top

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