Census Day Wasn't Always April 1st

Who cares when the Census was taken? 

Turns out, knowing when Census Day falls can be helpful in narrowing down possible birth, marriage, and death dates.

One New York ancestor was enumerated with her parents in the 1900 US census, then with her husband in the 1905 NY state census, taken on June 1st. By searching between June, 1900 and May, 1905, and using creative spelling, I was able to find her marriage in early 1905.

By the time of the 1910 US census, she and her husband had one daughter...later that year, after Census Day, another daughter was born who wouldn't show up in a NY state census until 1915.

For the upcoming release of the 1950 US Census, I was particularly interested that enumerators were required to fill out a separate Infant Card for every baby born in January, February, or March of that year. If someone was born in the census year of 1950 a few days or weeks before the Census Day of April 1st, there will be an Infant Card for that person, loaded with extra details about the parents and the baby! Unfortunately, Infant Cards were not retained so we never saw those. Darn it.

Census Day Was Not Always Fixed

As shown in the graphic at top, Census Day wasn't always one fixed date. Early in the nation's history, enumerators visited households to record information as of the "first Monday in August." The idea was to avoid taking farmers out of the fields during planting or harvesting.

In 1830, Census Day was standardized as June 1st, another date that didn't conflict with agricultural responsibilities.

In 1910, the date was changed to April 15th...in 1920, the date became January 1st...and then, in 1930, the date was fixed as April 1st, where it remains.

I like to keep this list of Census Day dates handy so I can correlate with other clues as I research my family's past.

Colorizing the Past

A few days ago, I tried the new MyHeritage in Color feature, which automatically colorizes sepia or black and white photos.

Having a bumper crop of old family photos, I also experimented on the same photos using Restore by Vivid-Pix and Picasa (no longer offered by Google, but software I've used and liked for years).

Original black and white scan of Wood house

I began with a scan of a black-and-white photo of my husband's grandfather, James Edgar Wood and my hubby's grandmother, Mary Slatter Wood (see original at left).

They're standing in front of a home that James built in Cleveland, Ohio, more than a century ago.

James posted a sign "Jas. E. Wood, Carpenter and Builder" which is visible next to the bicycle in front of the house.




The MyHeritage in Color version is below, right. I was thrilled to see the colorized sign, as much as the people and the building.

Black and white colorized by MyHeritage in Color

Notice the small white widget at bottom left of the MyHeritage colorized photo, intended to distinguish the adapted version from the original.

This is important because genealogists might otherwise mistake the newly colorized photo for an original.







I also used Restore by Vivid-Pix to see how the original b/w scan could be improved. Here's the result:

Black and white improved by Restore by Vivid-Pix

Both the Vivid-Pix and the MyHeritage versions show lots of detail and clarity, even if they are NOT originals. (The Vivid-Pix enhanced versions go into a special "Vivid" folder, leaving the originals untouched).

Original b/w of Minnie and Edward, 1930s

Next, I tried MyHeritage colorization on an old b/w of my husband's great aunt Minnie Steiner Halbedel and great uncle Edward Halbedel, in their backyard in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, holding two youngsters. Above, the original scan of this photo, taken in the late 1930s. Below, the MyHeritage colorization of this same photo. For quick, no-fuss colorization, it looks really good!

MyHeritage colorized version of Minnie & Ed

Finally, I tested MyHeritage's colorizing on a photo of another home under construction by hubby's Grandpa James E. Wood. Below is the original scan of a b/w photo taken on February 18, 1915, exactly 105 years ago today.

Original b/w scan of James E. Wood's house under construction, 1915

Next, the MyHeritage colorized version, which brings out the color of the bricks and lumber as well as making the people look real-life.

MyHeritage colorized version of Wood house under construction, 2015

And then I used Picasa to slightly tilt the color toward yellow, hoping to add to the natural colors of the lumber and bricks.

Picasa enhanced version of MyHeritage colorization of 1915 house under construction

Color always catches the eye of younger relatives, and that's a plus when I'm trying to get them interested in family history. In all, I'm excited by the many possibilities for working with old family photos.

Apres Vous/After You, What Happens to Your Genealogy?

Something new: A #Genchat one-hour live-tweet conversation on Friday, February 28 and the same topic, again a live-tweet conversation, on Saturday, February 29. I'm honored to be the special guest for both!

You're invited to join the discussion as participants from around the world explore ideas and issues related to "Apres Vous/After You."

What happens to your genealogy (and old photos and documents and stories) after you join your ancestors? How do you plan ahead to be sure your family-history collection will pass to the next generation and beyond--instead of landing in the rubbish or a garage sale?

Christine McCloud will host the first of these two Twitter #Genchat conversations on Friday night, Feb. 28, 10 pm Eastern Standard Time.

Liam "Sir Leprechaun Rabbit" will host the second Twitter #Genchat conversation on Saturday, Feb. 29. For U.S. participants, the starting time is 3 pm Eastern Standard Time. If you're elsewhere, starting time is 8 pm Greenwich Mean Time.

Please join the conversation! One hour of interesting and thought-provoking tweets focused on planning for "Apres Vous."

Floyda Files for Divorce: Favorite Discovery

1901 divorce papers of
Floyda Mabel Steiner

For this week's #52Ancestors challenge, I asked my husband about our favorite discovery in his family tree.

His pick: Learning about his Grandma Floyda's first marriage--and how/why she divorced her first husband.

Finding a Clue in Floyda's Marriage Certificate

Floyda Mabel Steiner (1878-1948) married my husband's Grandpa Brice Larimer McClure (1878-1970) on June 10, 1903.

When I ordered and received their marriage certificate, I was surprised to see that Floyda listed herself as divorced, with a previous married name of Floyda M. Gottfried.*

Digging Deeper into Floyda's Life

It didn't take long to find Floyda and her first husband, Aaron F. Gottfried, in the 1900 U.S. Census. They were living in Salem township, next to the town of Upper Sandusky where she was born. There were no children listed in the household.

Next, I paid to obtain Floyda's first marriage certificate. I learned she was married on May 18, 1898, in her home town of Upper Sandusky, OH.

When Was Floyda Divorced?

Now I had to narrow down the period for her divorce and get the story. In 1900, she was living with her first husband. In 1903, she was getting married for the second time. According to social items published in local newspapers, she was using her maiden name in 1903 when her engagement to her second husband was announced.

Clearly, the divorce took place between 1900 and 1903, far enough in the past that I could expect to get info about what happened. Since Floyda was sticking so close to home, I picked up the phone and dialed Wyandot and Crawford counties, and threw myself on the mercy of county clerks. I explained who, what, and when I was seeking, and asked for their help, please. Crawford county had nothing, but Wyandot county had the divorce papers in their files!

"Extreme Cruelty"

All I had to do was pay 10 cents per page for photocopying. (I sent more, and the cost was still peanuts.) In exchange, I received a dozen pages detailing the legal proceedings during the court term of April, 1901.

Floyda was requesting a divorce from her first husband on the grounds of "extreme cruelty." This was highly unusual at the time. Divorce was considered somewhat shameful and it was courageous of a woman, in particular, to initiate the end of her marriage. But it sounds like Floyda had good reasons.

She told the court that her first husband once kicked her in an angry fit, scratched her face until it bled, and "frequently drew his fist," threatening that if not for the law, he would strike her. He also called her names and said she "was not his equal in birth, education, etc." For his part, her husband denied the charges.

Asking for Alimony

In another move uncommon for that period, Floyda warned the court to restrain her first husband from disposing of his considerable property (then worth $1,700, the equivalent of more than $52,500 today). She believed he would try to thwart her ability to receive alimony, if the divorce was granted.

On May 21, 1901, Floyda was granted the divorce she sought. She was awarded $215 in lump-sum alimony, plus court costs, and she was given the legal right to use her maiden name again.

Floyda Remarries

1903 wedding announcement of
Floyda Steiner & Brice McClure

Two years after her divorce, Floyda married her second husband Brice in a "quiet wedding" at the Upper Sandusky home of one of her sisters. They boarded a train after the marriage dinner to go to Wabash, Indiana, where Brice worked for the railroads.

Floyda and Brice had one child, Marian Jane McClure (1909-1983), born in Cleveland, Ohio. They were very devoted to her and, when she married, they embraced her husband (Edgar James Wood, 1903-1986) as part of their family

Telling Floyda's Story 


When I tell the story of Floyda's divorce to her descendants, I emphasize how brave she was, in 1901, to take the bold step of going to court to get out of an abusive marriage.

It was just as courageous of her to return to her home town after her divorce, and resume an active social life until she remarried and moved away.

Floyda's father had passed away decades earlier, and her mother was nearing 70 years old at the time of this divorce. Seeing Floyda in a troubled marriage must have difficult for the whole family ... and then seeing Floyda happily remarried must have been very joyful!

So let me salute Floyda as our "favorite discovery" of a powerful, emotional episode in #FamilyHistory.

--

*At the time, Floyda's second marriage license was not yet available publicly--the only way to see it was to pay for it. I believe in having the actual documentation for parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents in my hands so I can examine every detail. I really got my money's worth!

For You, Sweetheart, on Valentine's Day 1946

On their first Valentine's Day together as an engaged couple, my father (Harold D. Burk, 1909-1978) sent my mother (Daisy Schwartz Burk, 1919-1981) this sentimental card.

The date was February 14, 1946.

Harry and Daisy met in October, 1945, on a date arranged by his aunt and her aunt. Harry had been serving overseas with the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War II. When he returned home to New York City, he was 36 years old and looking for the right gal to settle down and start a family.

Daisy was ten years younger than Harry, a romantic who wanted very much to fall in love and get married. During the war years, she dated but didn't find anyone she wanted to spend her life with (according to her letters). Then her Aunt Rose and his Aunt Mary introduced Daisy to Harry.

They both were smitten. After a whirlwind courtship, Harry proposed to Daisy on New Year's Eve. They were engaged for six weeks when he sent her this frilly card on February 14, 1946.

Mom and Dad had hoped for an early wedding but due to the severe post-war housing shortage, among other reasons, they decided to get married in November of that year. That allowed enough time to gather both sides of the family for a very nice Thanksgiving weekend wedding in New York City.

Sepia Saturday and Saturday Night Genea-Fun

James Edgar Wood in his 1917 Ford, Summer of 1917

This week's Sepia Saturday ties in well with my response to Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge! So I combined the two.

Sepia Saturday: Posing with the Car

Above, a photo taken of my husband's grandfather, James Edgar Wood (1871-1939) by hubby's father, Edgar James Wood, (1903-1986). Ed was only 14 when he took this photo of his father during a road trip from their home in Cleveland, OH to downtown Chicago, visiting Wood family members along the way. Ed had gotten a camera for his birthday and began a lifelong hobby of chronicling family activities.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Top 20 Surnames in Family Tree

Using RootsMagic7, and following Randy's instructions, I went to Reports, then Lists, scrolled down to "Surname Statistics List," and selected "Frequency of Surnames" from the list.

With 3,128 people in my husband's Wood family tree, I could have printed 17 pages for the "Frequency of Surnames" report. Instead, I printed only the first two pages. After that, the frequency of surnames dropped off sharply.

And the winner is . . . WOOD, which appears a total of 204 times (125 males, 78 females). The oldest date of a Wood ancestor record is 1551, the most recent date is 2019.

The top 20 are: Wood, Larimer, McClure, Work, Steiner, Slatter, McKibbin, Hilborn, Denning, Smith, Cushman, Brown, Taber, Nelson, Johnson, Bradford, Short, Caldwell, Rinehart, and Miller. 

By the time I got to Miller, there were only 17 appearances in the Wood family tree (11 males, 6 females), with the oldest date of 1803 and the most recent date of 2006. A Miller married a Work (the granddaughter of a Work-Larimer marriage) and that's how the Miller surname connects to my husband's Wood family tree.

Backup Is Cheap, Family Trees Are Priceless

Ancestry's instructions for downloading a family tree

One big reason I use RootsMagic7 genealogy software is to be able to sync with the family trees I've created on Ancestry.

Although I back up my RootsMagic trees every month or whenever I make major changes, I also like to download my Ancestry trees periodically.

It's easy to download a tree as a gedcom, as you can see from the above Ancestry screen shot. I give each downloaded tree a distinctive name AND date, so I can distinguish the "Wood" family tree download of February, 2020 from the "Farkas" family tree download of December, 2019.**

Keeping my family history safe is a top priority. Multiple backup processes (both RootsMagic and Ancestry trees backed up, stored on two hard drives, and stored daily in the cloud) may seem like a lot of duplication, but it offers me more options for restoring my trees, if ever the need arises.

Backup drives and cloud storage are relatively cheap -- carefully researched and documented family trees are priceless and deserve protection.

**RootsMagic will also download an Ancestry tree for me, including all media attached to the individuals--very convenient! I do this as well, but also like to keep a separate gedcom downloaded directly from Ancestry in case I need to recover.

The Weddingest Months in His Family Tree

February 14, 1861 marriage of Adaline Steiner Sigler and John Dome in Crawford county, OH

My husband's family tree has one Valentine's Day wedding, among 25 marriages that took place in February. But February isn't the month with the most weddings in that family tree.

Valentine's Day Wedding

Above, the marriage license of Adaline Elizabeth Steiner Sigler (1837-1912) and John Dome 1824-1902). Adaline was my hubby's 2d great aunt, the sister of his great-grandfather Edward George Steiner.

Addie's first marriage was to Albert Sigler (1833-1858), who sadly died at the age of 24, just three months before their only child was born.

When this child was nearly three years old, Addie married for a second time. She and John Dome applied for the license on Thursday, February 14, 1861, and were married the same day. This was two months before the official start of the Civil War. John did register for the draft in July of 1863, but he was not called to serve.

By the time great-great-aunt Addie died, she was widowed again and a grandmother several times over.

August and December, the Weddingest Months

In my husband's family tree, the most weddings took place in August and December. According to the anniversary list I generated using my RootsMagic7 software, 40 couples were married in each of these months. By comparison, only 25 couples were married in February.

On the first day of August, 1722, Andrew Allen and Abiah Lovell were married in Barnstable, Massachusetts. Andrew and Abiah were my husband's 5th great-grandparents. This is the earliest August wedding in the anniversary list.

There were three New Year's Eve weddings on the anniversary list. On December 31, 1863, John N. McClure and Rebecca Jane Coble were married in Wabash county, Indiana. John was my husband's 2d great uncle. They were part of the McClure contingent that left Indiana to try farming in Emmet county, Michigan.

My husband's great-great-grandpa William Madison McClure, part of the contingent, briefly farmed in Little Traverse, Michigan before returning to Indiana. One of his four children was born in Little Traverse. That child was Grandpa Brice Larimer McClure, born on December 29, 1878. The other three were all born in Indiana.

I wrote this post for Elizabeth O'Neal's Genealogy Blog Party, February 2020 edition!