A Reminder for Doper Genealogists: it's one week until 1940

I’m positively geeky-giddy over the release of the 1940 Census on April 2. Among other things the 1940 Census (blank form) asked the family’s income for the previous year, which I’m really interested to learn (though I’m guessing there was a lot of lying that went on).

For me this will include my parents (both minors), my four grandparents, and either six or seven great-grandparents (one died in February 1940, so I’m not sure how or if he’d be counted). One of my great-grandfathers was a cantankerous small town doctor who seemed to wait with relish for the Census guy to come around every 10 years because he told him some whopper lies (he was 64 in one Census, ten years later he was 49 [in fact he was nowhere near either], was married 3 times according to one census [he was married once]- the names of his children changed- it’s clear he was yanking a chain) and this one asks about money- he probably either claimed to earn $30,000 per month or $12 per year.

Anyway, a reminder for anybody who has let their membership to Ancestry lapse.

Also, I wanted to make the offer that if anybody wants copies of any of their own relatives Census pages when it comes out then let me know. For the first few days I’m going to look up some info on my own families and explore the other parts of the Census so it won’t be immediate, but send me PMs to remind me and unless I get 2,000 requests I will get to you.

Feel free to post any Genealogy Stuff in general in here, 1940 or Otherwise.

I’m working indexing records for Family Search (the free portion of Ancestry.com), and I’m looking forward to entering them. Census records are fascinating, even if you don’t know anyone involved.

I’m really excited, too. I know where all my direct ancestors were in 1940, so I’m not going to find out anything about them, but my great-aunts and uncles and their children, and other connections who just moved away, are out there to be found!

RealityChuck, I didnt realize Ancestry and Family Search were connected. I know Family Search is from the LDS church, but I didn’t know Ancestry was, too. I find things on Family Search all he time that aren’t available on Ancestry. I love that site!

I think Google should do more to market their use for genealogy. They already have a book digitization service, they’re the premiere search engine for public records, the best image search, and they have templates. I think with some well placed millions they could give Ancestry some much needed competition. (LexisNexis talked about this a few years back but then the economy tanked and I think they rethought it.)

I wish there were more sites where you could upload/download/search photos of ancestors. I have several photographs (some original, some copies) of ancestors, many of whom have hundreds if not thousands of living descendants, and I’ve shared them on Ancestry and on Flickr, but wish there was a one-stop ‘deadancestorpics.org’ for people without ancestry memberships that would allow people to focus a search a bit more.

I myself am dreading it. Perhaps I can call in sick to work for the next… several months. Or only when I see a genealogist coming.

How does one view the census records? Are they indexed online?

They really aren’t connected. They share some things, but not a lot. They are sharing the 1940 census records, probably because they know it’s stupid to have multiple places doing the indexing and transcription.

I’m not too excited about the census, I’ll look for them of course, but I’m not going to jump right on it. I know about where my ancestors lived, but not really excited about searching for them by ‘hand’. I may do so for my one of the great grandmothers though as she’s a mystery and I’d like to find out more about her.

I do need to look and see who’s still alive in 1940, and who lives together.

If you want the 1940 census they will be available online but without an index now. Older records can be found at Ancestry.com or Family Search. Family Search is free, though they do not have all of the census records and they sometimes kick you over to Ancestry. The older records are indexed.

How on Earth do you find anything in the online link at the archives? Obviously it’s not just random. Is it by address?

That’s why we all wait for indexes and buy products that have them.

Egads, when I started my gene research, I was limited to the 1900 census and earlier.

I’m looking forward to seeing if I can locate my FIL, who was working in the CCC camps in the 1940 timeframe.

I had a genealogical breakthrough just two days ago. I’ve known the names of 15 of my g-g-grandparents for many years but was missing the surname of #16. I finally found her, along with her extensive pedigree. So I now have a complete Seize Quartiers! :cool:

While Googling around I found that the Atlanta Constitution pages from 1892 are on-line ( :cool: ) but a credit card is required even for the “7 day free trial.” ( :frowning: ). Any kind soul with access willing to e-mail me a page or two?

Have you tried Google books or even project Gutenberg? There’s also Open Library, and the National Archives as well. If it’s on Ancestry or Newspaper Archives let me know and I can pull them for you.

I have an Ancestry account, and it has Atlanta Constitution, but not for 1892 and The Atlanta Constitution May 5, 1892; pg. 4 is what I wanted.
Yet that page does seem to be on-line elsewhere, e.g.
Page 4 in - Fold3
Newspaper Archives seems to include Atlanta Constitution but I don’t know if it, like Ancestry, omits year 1892.

Yesterday I found a page that would show very brief excerpt for free, but can’t find it now. :frowning: IIRC, my second most desirable page is May 4, 1892; pg. 5.

Well I just checked Newspaper Archive and they do not have any of those papers, they are missing 1891 AND 1892. That’s probably why Ancestry doesn’t have a copy either. You might just want to pony up for the 7 days and make sure to cancel it.

Congrats, and speaking of…

can somebody please write out phonetically how to say Seize Quartiers? I was wondering this recently. Should it rhyme with maize and Poitier?

In the 1930s my great-grandparents took two of their kids and moved from Kansas to California, leaving my then 16 year old grandfather behind. We have no letters or anything from my grandfather to them after they left and no records as to where they ended up in California. We have a very common last name so I’ve hit nothing but roadblocks in my research. The 1940 Census is going to be a huge help in finding them.

The only thing I know of that comes remotely close is findagrave.com. Many people (including me) have appended photos to the burial records. I don’t know of a strictly ‘photos of ancestors’ site. That would be one hell of a database.

I’ll be interested to see the 1940 census as well. It was a transition period for my parents. Since the 1930 record, they had met, gotten married, had two children, and my father had started to explore work in Alaska.

The Google Books search engine is a huge help, and they add more all the time. It seems that FTM had started putting old reference books on line years ago, but I don’t know what happened with that effort. A really good site for old public records that I haven’t seen mentioned is one called American Ancestors. It’s part of the NEHGS. Tons of documents such as wills, probate records, etc. Another site, which is for war records is Fold 3.

My sister, as I half-expected she would, enrolled for 7 days at fold3 (and will probably neglect/forget to cancel). I’ll volunteer to do a few searches for Dopers, if she agrees. It will take me a while to learn what’s available and how to do searches.

The pages I asked for are just brief death notices of my ancestor (the husband of the 16th surname who excited me). I’d hoped to at least confirm names for his parents, but no. I have learned why he’s been so hard to search for: both of these pages, his tombstone, and the Ancestry tree that named his wife all omit his first name – it seems he always went by just his initials.

Says Car Tee A

Pretty much, except the “oi” in Poitier doesn’t quite work.