A distant, distant relative of my husband was an enumerator for the 1950 US Census! He's the first enumerator I've ever found in either my tree or hubby's family tree, for any Census. I had no idea he worked for the Census when I began researching his family.
Eric Townsend Brigham (1918-1965) was the grandnephew of the husband of my husband's 2nd cousin 3x removed. (See, I told you he was distant.) Eric was the grandson of a doctor, great-grandson of a lawyer who served as a Congressional Representative of Maine from 1877 to 1883, great-great grandson of a Union officer in the US Civil War.
Anyway, at the time of the 1950 US Census, Eric had previously worked as a telephone equipment repair tech, and had also had his own car parking business for a time. Yet in the 1950 US Census, there he was, enumerating himself at his residence, saying he worked 28 hours last week as "enumerator, census." His wife (Thelma Claire Jarisch Brigham, 1917-2010) worked 9 hours the previous week as a sewing teacher in elementary and junior high schools. Both were listed with a "G" for employer, meaning they worked for a government agency, as shown in excerpt above.
Anyone else find a Census enumerator in their tree? An enumerator who enumerated his or her own household?
This is my "free space" blog post for Amy Johnson Crow's #52Ancestors genealogy prompt for the week.
What a fun find! :)
ReplyDeleteI have not yet found one. This is so cool!
ReplyDeleteI haven't found one, either, but have always wondered if an enumerator could be assigned his own home. Fun find!
ReplyDeleteNever know what you will find! Cool!
ReplyDeleteI haven't found one yet, but always wondered if an enumerator could do his own house. Very fun find.
ReplyDeleteHow great is that! The closest I have come is on a WWII draft registration card for my Uncle Fred (my dad's brother) -- the registrar was one of his aunts.
ReplyDeleteI have a second great uncle who was an enumerator in 1930. I blogged about him at https://frommainetokentucky.blogspot.com/2012/03/workday-wednesday-uncle-chester-census.html
ReplyDeleteMy great-grandfather enumerated his own household in the 1900 Federal census. It’s very helpful because my grandmother, his daughter, couldn’t seem to settle on a birthdate in later years, & his enumeration is the closest record we have to her birth. 😁
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