My 1950 U.S. Census Release To-Do List: Who and Where

With the public release of the 1950 U.S. Census records less than a year away, I'm prepping to be ready for April 1, 2022. 

That mid-century Census will not be transcribed or indexed when first released. I won't be able to simply type a name into the search box and magically find my screen filled with the correct 1950 Census page. Not until the Census is indexed and transcribed, which will be months after the release date. 

In the early weeks, I'll be browsing lots and lots of handwritten pages to try to spot the people I want to find. 

From my experience following a similar process when the 1940 Census was released, I know some browsing may involve only a few pages per person. Of course, some ancestors will be found on the final page of a large district, or spread across two districts. I have to be ready for any of these possibilities.

Which ancestors do I want to find?

My first step is to list the ancestors I want to find in the 1950 Census, surname first. Setting my priorities, I'm listing my closest ancestors on each side, followed by more distant ancestors. I didn't note relationships, but I may refine my table to indicate that later on. 

As shown in the sample at top, I created a table in a Word document so that I can sort by surname, sort by 1940 location, sort by 1950 location, etc. I've left space for the 1950 Enumeration District (known as an ED, more about this in a later post). 

Sorting is important because I might find, after listing dozens of ancestors, that two or three or more live in the same ED. For more efficient browsing, I'd want to group those together. 

In this sample, I entered the names (no maiden names) of three members of my father's Mahler family. I also noted any name variations I found in the 1940 Census, as a reminder about creative spelling by enumerators. 

Where were ancestors in 1950?

The next very important step is to note where my ancestors were living in 1950. In the case of my great aunt Dora Mahler, I can be pretty confident about her address in April of 1950 because she was at that address when she died in June of 1950. She had a chronic illness and had lived with her mother for years, which is why I listed my great-grandma Tillie Jacobs Mahler at the same address in 1950. 

My grandmother Henrietta Mahler was living at 3044 Valentine Avenue in the Bronx, NY when her husband Isaac Burk died in 1943. Tentatively, I've listed that as her address in 1950, along with another possible address: the apartment building where her son and daughter lived in 1950. Maybe she was living in the same building by 1950?

I'll have more to say about ways to find 1950 addresses in my next post!

Easter Postcards from Family History

In the early 1900s, my husband's Wood ancestors exchanged postal greeting cards to stay in touch across the miles. Aunts, uncles, cousins, and close friends wrote cards for birthdays, Easter, Christmas, New Year's, and other special events. 

The cards flew through the mail to and from Cleveland, Ohio plus Toledo, Ohio and Chicago, Illinois. Writing on the back helped me track movement of family members from one address to another, as well as giving clues to relationships, both in the family and in the FAN club (friends, associates, neighbors).

For Easter, let me share four of the still-colorful cards that have survived in great shape within the Wood family for more than a century!

One Year from Today: 1950 US Census Release!

Just a year from today, on April 1, 2022, the 1950 U.S. Census will be released! 

Are you ready?

Understand what enumerators were told to ask and how they were told to write down answers by looking at the "Urban & Rural Enumerator's Reference Manual" for the 1950 Census. You can access a free copy online through this link.

For more background about the U.S. Census, you can download a free copy of  "Measuring America" from this link.

Initially, no index or transcriptions will be available. Many groups are gearing up to tackle that monumental effort. So on the first day, you will be able to look for ancestors only by browsing images of the population schedule of the enumeration district (ED) where they lived.

For more details on how to prepare for the 1950 Census release, read the "Getting Ready" Steve Morse 1-Step page. And don't miss a single one of Joel Weintraub's informative, step-by-step videos here.

Also please look at my 1950 Census blog posts, which focus on issues such as how enumerators were told to record answers to the question "where were you born?" and other unique quirks of this mid-century Census.

One year from today, I'll be glued to my computer screen, diving into the first Census where my parents were enumerated as a married couple! Who will you be looking for?

Honoring Ancestors on Ellis Island

My great-grandparents, Moritz Farkas and Leni Kunstler Farkas, came to America from Hungary at the turn of the 20th century. Both entered through Ellis Island. 

All four of my grandparents were immigrants. Three came through Ellis Island and one sailed from England to Canada and then crossed into the United States. All made the difficult decision to leave everything they knew and forge a new life in a land they'd never seen.

A Memorable Visit to See Ancestral Name

Nearly 25 years ago, Sis and I joined several cousins on a visit to Ellis Island. We knew that one of our cousins had donated to have "The Moritz Farkas Family" inscribed on an early part of the Wall of Honor erected at Ellis Island, as a monument to immigrants.

It was emotional to see the family name on the wall and think about these ancestors' hopes, dreams, and realities. It felt wonderful knowing these ancestors were memorialized in a place so important to the arc of their lives (and ours). And that we could visit this memorial, which will stand for many years!

Ellis Island Wall of Honor

Late in 2019, Sis and I decided to honor our four immigrant grandparents by donating to have their names inscribed on the Wall of Honor. We memorialized the married couple of Theodore and Hermina Farkas Schwartz (as shown above) and the married couple of Isaac and Henrietta Mahler Burk. 

Their names were added to the wall last year! Although we haven't yet had an opportunity to visit Ellis Island, a website search of the Wall of Honor shows who they are, where they came from, and who made the donation.

We are delighted to have this tangible, enduring memorial to the courage and determination of our immigrant ancestors, the journey-takers who made our lives possible. 

Family Stories of Loss in Printed Genealogy Book

My husband's family tree, like all family trees, includes many stories of happiness and heartache, luck and loss. We are fortunate that a descendant of his LARIMER patriarch recorded lots of these stories in a printed (now digitized) genealogy book, Larimer Family, 1740-1959. 

The author, John C. Work, and his father, Aaron C. Work, were (like my husband) descended from Robert Larimer, born in the North of Ireland and shipwrecked en route to America about 1740. Father and son contacted dozens of descendants over the years, and then wrote down what they were told, in as much detail as was available at the time.

Let me share just a few snippets of family loss recorded in this Larimer genealogy book, with the intent of keeping alive the memory of these long-ago ancestors:

Loss at an early age

Lucy E. Short died in 1858 before the age of 2. Her brother, Frank B. Short, died at age 32. William Larimer died in 1849 of cholera, age 30. His brother Isaac died of consumption in 1858. Jennie Landon Short died of heart disease, age 36, leaving a son. Eleanor Larimer Haglind died at age 37, leaving three young children. Many other infant deaths were recorded, most by name but some, sadly, were noted only as "child died in infancy."

Loss due to accident

Harvey J. Larimer died when he was hit by a board kiln. James Larimer died when he hit his head on frozen ground after being thrown from his horse. Amos Larimer and his family built a boat to sail from California to Oregon in the 1870s, but they never arrived and were never heard from again. Frank A. Evans lost his life in a streetcar accident, circa 1927. William Poyser died after being struck by a falling tree. John Larimer died after being infected by a deer bone splinter in 1843. 

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This is my "loss" post for Amy Johnson Crow's #52Ancestors challenge.