Coping with Conflicting Census Data

Census records are a marvelous way to discover where your ancestors lived, what they did for a living, and who else lived in the house. But what if you find errors in the census data that call into question whether or not this is the family member you are looking for?

Who the Heck is Elizabeth?

This has been one of the most confusing census conflicts I have come across. I know George Nowell and Rebecca Joplin married on July 4th or 5th of 1894 in Hillsboro, Hill County, Texas. (The family bible says 4, the Texas Marriages index says 5). So in 1900, they would have been married 6 years, as is indicated on the census.

According to the family bible, George was born 9 April 1875, and Rebecca Joplin was born 19 March 1879 (her death certificate says 18 March 1879). So the birth months and years are also a match.

The first child born to George and Rebecca Nowell was Della on 2 June 1895 according to the bible and her death certificate. Now here is the second inconsistency we come across. The census has "Ardella" born one month before George and Rebecca were married.

However, looking to the date the census was taken (29 June 1900), my Della would have just turned 5, so the age still matches. But that brings up another problem - if George and Rebecca were married in July, they wouldn't have celebrated their 6th anniversary yet.

So, back to the family bible, John Nowell was born 6 Nov 1897. Okay, that one fits. Additionally, all of the birth locations for self and parents match what I know.

How do I reconcile the number of hits versus the number of misses? And the wife's first name seems like a huge miss!

Why Errors May Occur on US Censuses

It wasn't until 1940 that census takers began recording who the informant for a household was. Browsing through 1940 census records, I noticed several instances of neighbors or landlords being the informant for a family unit.

Like death certificates, the information found on a census is only as reliable as the person who supplied it. But prior to 1940, there is no way to know who provided the information on US censuses.

But could a neighbor be so close on months and years of birth, but be completely wrong about the wife's first name? Is it possible that the census taker got the names from another source because no one was home, then went back for the rest of the information without double-checking the names?

Other Ways to Investigate

If I had been able to find George Nowell, born in Texas between 1874 and 1876 married to an Elizabeth on the 1910, 1920 or 1930 census, I would have simply dropped it there. But I couldn't find them. This isn't proof, but it does encourage one to keep looking for other information.

Also living in Comanche County in 1900 were my George Nowell's brother, John R Nowell and family, in the same enumeration district. In fact, in order of visitation, John Nowell was 191, and George Nowell was 195.

George and John's parents, Joseph B and Mattie Nowell, are also living in Comanche County, in a neighboring district, with their sister, Bettie Francis. This isn't firm proof, but it is highly suggestive. Oh, and did I mention, there are the only 3 Nowell households in Comanche County on the 1900 census (that I can find, anyway).

In 1910, I find George and Rebecca, in Comanche County, with children Della, John, George, Zula and Maggie. This time all of the names and ages match up. George's parents are still in Comanche County, as is his brother John's family. They are still the only Nowell's I can find in the county.

Again, this doesn't prove that "Elizabeth" was really Rebecca, but I can't discount the possibility that someone simply gave the census taker the wrong name, with some of the dates slightly skewed.

Other ways to confirm the location of your ancestors when census records are somewhat sketchy include tax rolls, land records, and death certificates of children who may have died young.

Discuss

Have you encountered census data that matched everything but one or two glaring details? Were you able to reconcile the information you found, or are you still trying? Please share your own experiences with conflicting census data, either on your own blog, or in the comments below.

Tip: Research One Ancestor at a Time

When you begin compiling your family tree, it is very easy to start chasing branch information in every direction. While it can be fun to find out about ancestors you never knew existed, it can also send you chasing down the wrong line if you don't collect enough data to be sure.

If you can maintain focus on researching one family member at a time, you will have more sources to help you confirm (or disprove) those ancestors you have very little information about.

Have a Strategy

Create a plan for collecting information about an ancestor. Have a look at your paper and pencil pedigree, and see what is missing.

One possible strategy would be to start with your father, and follow along the numerical reference numbers of each family tree member, collecting (and recording!) as much data as you can find for each ancestor before moving on to the next.

Or you could work along one particular line, perhaps researching each ancestor along your paternal line, or maternal line first. Just make sure you spend time working on each member of your family tree so that nothing gets overlooked.

Start Researching

If you have developed a strategy, you already know which ancestor you want to start with. Now you need to search all of your available online resources (we'll get to genealogy libraries and other repositories when we have enough data to know what we are looking for).

I like to start with FamilySearch because it is free and has an extensive collection of Texas family history resources. Enter the data you know about your relative, and see what comes up.

If you don't find anything, go for something more specific, such as a marriage record. If you know the state where your ancestor was likely married, enter that in the marriage location. Remove the first names if you are still not getting any results. Be sure to add the spouse's last name, if you know it.

If you know the names of the ancestor's parents, search for birth records or indexes by searching the parents names and location. If that doesn't work, try just searching the parent's last names.

If the state's death certificates have been indexed, you can also find data by searching just for the parents' names or last names. This is a great way to find the children of an ancestor who's children would have died within a specific state during the period in which death certificates are currently available to the public.

For census records, search the name and residence location during a given census year. If you don't know where the ancestor lived, leave the location blank and look for clues (spouse, children) that will help you find the correct family unit.

Be sure to check Find A Grave to see if photos or information about an ancestor's grave site are available.

Record Findings

Save all scanned images you find, and copy textual data into a notepad or word pad text file along with the source information. Be sure to give all files a name that will make the data easy to find again.

Also write down your new findings on your pedigree and family group records.

Don't Get Discouraged

Some relatives are just very difficult to find much information on. If you've spent the whole day searching online databases, to no avail, it's okay. Move on to another ancestor. You can come back to that one later, perhaps when you are prepared to visit a genealogy library or local history archive.

Please feel free to share your own tips and strategies for online research of ancestors.

Tip: Strategy for Organizing Documents Found Online

When you've scored your first scanned image of a family history record, you are definitely going to want a copy of it. But, since you are likely to find a number of other documents in your endeavors, you need a way to keep them organized so you can find them later.

I found out the hard way that stuffing them all into one folder with their original file name quickly leads to time-consuming confusion and chaos. Over years of trial and error, I came up with a filing system that works very well for me now. You may want to develop your own system or adapt mine to your own needs.

First, I made a Genealogy folder inside the My Documents folder. Within that folder, I created one folder for my dad's line and one for my mom's line (with their surnames as each folder name). Then within each of those folders I added folders for surnames married into that line, so I have three folders of surnames married into my Norman line. Then within those sub-folders, I continue to add surname folders as needed when I discover a new surname married into that line. Of course, these don't all have to be created at once, but can be done as you go.

Now it's time to save the document. This is my file naming strategy to help my find exactly what I'm looking for easily. First I start with what type of record it is, birth, death, marriage, census, obituary, photo, etc. Then other relevant information that will help me identify it, such as date, name of the person/people the record relates to, etc.

So, for example, I would save a census image as "census_1940_McLennan-Co-TX_Norman-George-Sr.jpg". This way, all of the census records I've found for Norman surnames are listed together, in order of year, then location, and finally head of household. If I find more than one household on the image, I'll separate the names with another underscore.

I handle death certificates a little differently. For example, death-cert_Norman-George-Sr.jpg, since all I need to know is who the death certificate is for in order to determine if it is the one I'm looking for. It is the same with obituaries, obit_Norman-George-Sr.jpg

Of course, this isn't the only way to manage the genealogy records you find online. I would love to hear about folder system and file naming strategies employed by others, as I am always working to better organize and structure my finds. Please leave a comment to share your own system.