Census Records

Census records are some of the best if not the best records to utilize in your family history research quest. The United States Constitution requires that a federal census is taken every ten years. Since 1790 a census has been conducted and most of those records are available for searching once 72 years have passed for privacy concerns.

The 1890 federal census is almost completely lost due to water damage trying to put out a fire in the Commerce Building on 19 Jan 1921. Almost all of the census was destroyed by government order by the mid 1930s. Fragments remain for Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota, and Texas, and the District of Columbia. There are some missing records from both the 1800 and 1810 federal censuses as well; 1800 is missing GA, KY, NJ, TN and VA  while 1810 is missing the District of Columbia, Georgia, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio and almost all of Tennessee. 

Despite its missing records the census provides an every decade snapshot of a person over the course of his life, as a child, a young adult, married and finally his later years. Starting in 1850 every member of a household was identified by name, sex and age. There were property questions which revealed their real and personal property values. Starting in 1880 the relationship of each household member was referenced back to the head of household. In 1900 the month and year of birth of every person was recorded. 

Naturalization and immigration questions were asked over the years and 1900-1920 are particularly helpful when researching an immigrant ancestor. In 1900 and 1910 mothers were asked how many children they gave birth to and how many were still living. The length of a person’s current marriage was recorded in 1900 and 1910. Age at first marriage was asked in 1930. These can provide endless clues in finding marriage records.

The goal is to find every ancestor in each census that he appeared in over his life. This could  be several or just a single one. If an immigrant ancestor died young enough he may not appear in any census records at all. In addition to your direct line be mindful of looking for your ancestors’ other children. These collateral relatives may provide better insight into family dynamics and migration stories. 

Most states and a few localities also conducted censuses. The federal government subsidized part of the cost of 1885 censuses taken by the states of Colorado, Florida, Nebraska and the territories of Dakota and New Mexico. With the loss of the 1890 federal census this count became more helpful and important. 

Some states like New York and Iowa conducted censuses almost every five years in the middle of a decade; Iowa’s 1925 state census is possibly the best census ever conducted. It asks for the names of each person’s parents and details about their places of birth and marriage. 

Be mindful that in 1870 both New York City(Manhattan) and Philadelphia were allowed to conduct additional censuses because of complaints by their civic leaders that their cities were undercounted. Therefore, for example, the island of Manhattan was counted in Jun 18709 and following and then again in Dec 1870 into Jan 1871. 

In 1890, New York City(Manhattan and parts of the Bronx) were counted again from 19 Sep until 14 Oct 1890 by the NYC Police Department. This census included the name, age and sex of each individual in the home but did not list birthplaces or jobs. It is essential given the loss of the 1890 federal and 1892 state census for Manhattan and parts of the Bronx. 

Pay attention to each member of the household and do not dismiss a lodger or a boarder as not related. Oftentimes blood relatives are misidentified as such and only reveal their close relationship in subsequent records. In 1910 Patrick Charles was listed as Mary Gillen’s boarder. Later in the year when Mary died, Patrick buried her in a grave he had purchased a few years earlier. It would be odd to have a tenant bury his landlady. In the 1905 state census Patrick Charles was listed as Mary Gillen’s cousin which makes much more sense. Their mothers were sisters and both women interchangeably used the surnames Conry and Greaney. 

Another misidentification is of stepchildren with their father’s surname. Be mindful to look for your relatives under both their own surname and that of their stepfather even if they did not like him and he never adopted them legally. 

Vital Records

Unless you are already 72 years old you will not likely find any census records that your are enumerated in. Therefore, I would begin with your birth certificate. Get the actual certified long form and see if there might be a surprise or two in terms of where you born or your parents’ names.

Vital records are an excellent resource and you should try to obtain the birth, marriage and death certificates for your immediate family members. This might be sensitive for living family members so tread lightly and do not press to get a look at an official record unless you have reason to.

One can only be born and die once so everyone most likely has but one certificate for both of those events. A person cannot only marry more money in a minute than he can earn in a lifetime, he can also marry several times over the course of his life. Aim to obtain every civil marriage record that your ancestors and close collateral relatives created over their lives. 

Marriage records often predate the other vital records by several decades. Marriage records come in a variety of forms from one line ledger entries to full page certificates. There might also be a license before a wedding took place. There may only be a certificate to record that the wedding occurred. Bonds, banns and other unique marital tools might be created. They will vary from the very informative to the barely helpful and everything in between. Be mindful of duplicate and competing marriage records that may be kept within a municipality. Two city offices may have collected marriage records during the same timeframe. 

If you are trying to determine when a couple married consider birthplace and year of their first child. Was there a newspaper announcement of the engagement? Sometimes plans change and the Episcopal wedding in the rectory is instead actually a courthouse wedding by the Justice of the Peace. A very helpful but ironic place to learn of a wedding location is the first few paragraphs of a divorce petition. Pension files are a potential resource to discover where and when a couple married. Lastly, obituaries and personal interviews can reveal wedding dates and places.

There are multiple indexes available that may assist you in your quest. Both FamilySearch and Ancestry have indexes online. These will not reveal all there is in the full record but it will point you in a certain direction for success. 

Once localities required them, death certificates are a user friendly, straight forward record to track down. There are multiple indexes available. Compliance with the law is almost universal. Apparently it was simpler to regulate and supervise a fixed number of funeral directors and cemetery offices than the inordinate number of pastors, physicians and midwives at marriages and births, especially in large urban areas.

Determining when someone died is not always simple but we will all die and our ancestors mostly have all died off by now. There may not be a death certificate before a certain year but obtain each and every one that you can because of the helpful information to be potentially found there; birthdate, birthplace, parents’ names and birthplaces, spouse’s name, marital status, cause of death, burial location and date to name but a few. 

Birth registrations may not begin in certain states until after 1900. This can be a challenge but again work with what vital records one can. Births provide the names of the parents including mother’s maiden name. The location and date of birth is standard. The ages of the parents and the birthing history of the mother may also be included on a birth record.

Be mindful of what the record keeper was asking. Number of child born to this mother and number of previous children born to this mother necessitate different replies because the former includes the subject of the birth certificate while the latter specifically ignores him. 

This record also helps to track our families social history and shows when the pregnant woman brought to bed surrounded by female friends and relatives to deliver was replaced by a delivery run by a physician and later in a hospital with physicians and nurses. Doctors are more likely than midwives to record a birth with the state. Also be mindful that delayed birth certificates can be issued for a variety of reasons. Sometimes there may be a birth certificate submitted by a midwife and then a second one submitted by the doctor. Make sure to obtain both and compare their answers. 

There will be a lot of cross referencing between records sources. Once you know where an infant was born you might have an easier time finding a baptismal record. If you are able to establish where a person is buried you may be able to find out who else from the family is buried in that grave or that same cemetery.

Out of One Rabbit's Hole and Down the Next

I finally found my grandmother’s uncle’s wedding details from 1890. It verified that the names of his parents were the same as a couple I had stumbled upon years earlier.

Now I want to clean up the life details for his widow, Mary Cunningham Goodwin(c.1865-1903). Her death certificate stated that she was the daughter of Patrick and Ann Cunningham. He marriage record from 13 years earlier listed them as Owen Cunningham and Ann Martin. Martin seems a rather straight forward name easy to spell. 

Upon checking both the civil birth registry through Ancestry and the baptismal registers through both Ancestry and RootsIreland, no Owen Cunningham and Ann Martin appeared as parents. I did however find an entry for a Mary Cunningham baptized on 24 Jul 1859 at Crossmaglen, Upper Creggan, County Armagh the daughter of Owen Cunningham and Anne MARRON. 

The marriage record from 1890 is a transcription. I await the digitized scanned image that FindMyPast will post in the future. 

In the mean time I did discover that Owen Cunningham and Anne Marron/Marrin lived at Monaguillagh townland. From townlands.ie we learn Monaguillagh is in the Civil Parish of Creggan. Monaguillagh is in the Barony of Fews Upper. Monaguillagh is in Co. Armagh

The Irish name for Monaguillagh is Móin na gCailleach

They baptized 5 children there from 1859-1870:

24 Jul 1859 Mary Cunningham Pat Cunningham & Ann Boyle sponsors

18 May 1863 Bridget Cunningham Michael Corrigan & Mary Cunningham sponsors

25 Jun 1865 John Cunningham Hugh Kelly & Bridget Kelly sponsors

25 Jul 1868 Ann Cunningham Thomas Murphy & Jane Cunningham sponsors
19 Mar 1870 Patrick Cunningham Edward Callaghan & Bridget Cunningham sponsors

Owen Cunningham died 25 Aug 1896 at Monaguillagh

Ann Cunningham wed Felix Morris((1865-1905) on 11 May 1897 at Crossmaglen

Anne Marrin Cunningham died 17 Sep 1904 at Monaguillagh

Patrick Cunningham(1870-1907) appeared in the 1901 Irish census. He died 29 Dec 1907 with his sister Anne Faughey(1868-after 1910) as informant, Monaguillagh. The widow Anne Cunningham Morris wed Peter Faughey on 30 Aug 1906. She hand no children in either marriage. 

If this is the right family for Mary Cunningham Goodwin it would move her age up 7 years. She would be older than her sister-in-law by 6 months and the following ages when she married and delivered her six children: 31, 32, 33, 35, 37, 39 and 42. Her reported ages were: 24, 25, unknown, unknown, 29, 32 and 35.