Make the most of government's nosiness

In some ways, the census is representative of government sprawl. It began in 1790, and for 50 years it was a document that simply recorded heads of households and the age, race and sex (but not names) of those living in each home.

As genealogists, we should be delighted that with each successive census the government got a little nosier. But the sad thing is that most researchers still harvest only the basic details of name, relationship to the head of the household, age, race and sex.

As the government's quest for more information grew between 1900 and 1930, the size of the pages didn't — so answers were squeezed into smaller and smaller boxes. It is understandable, to a degree, that researchers using microfilm ignored those tiny boxes with barely legible microscopic typeface.

But most people now use digital versions of the census at Ancestry (www.ancenstry.com), HeritageQuest (available on library websites such as Hillsborough County's at www.hcplc.org) or FamilySearch (www.familysearch.com).

The digital "zoom" tool allows researchers to magnify the type until it is very readable, so now the only reason for not using this data is laziness or carelessness.

Here's what you could have been missing:

• Street addresses: In 1900, the actual house number and street name of each resident appears under the "Location" boxes. This information continued in the 1910, 1920 and 1930 censuses. Prior to 1900, the census taker assigned a dwelling and family number to each household. This was helpful to relate neighbors in proximity, but it did little to tell us where the neighborhood itself was.

• Dates of birth: In 1900, we almost got each person's actual birth date: The month and year were recorded — only the day was missing. Unfortunately, this very valuable information wasn't required in following census years.

• Marital details. Intriguing marital information was required in 1900 and 1910. The status of single, married, widowed or divorced was asked. The "number of years for the present marriage" allows researchers to estimate a date of marriage. The census taker also asked the number of children the mother had birthed and how many were living. (I wrote in my Aug. 14 column about using this specific information to research a Pasco County family.)

• Immigration and citizenship. Those trying to determine when an ancestor migrated will find valuable lead information under the "Citizenship" column. In 1900, residents were asked to give the year they had immigrated, the number of years they had been in the United States and whether or not they were naturalized. This citizenship information was requested in all subsequent censuses. In 1920 only, an additional question elicited the actual year a person was naturalized. All of these clues can be helpful to any researcher about to wade through federal immigration and naturalization records.

• Place of birth. Since 1850, the census has asked the place (state or country) of birth for each person in a household. Beginning in 1880, that question expanded to ask for the same information for the father and mother of each person in the home. This always has been valuable in establishing migration routes and in identifying the immigrant ancestor.

In 1920, a place of birth for each person in the household and each of his parents was still asked, but added to the list was each person's "Mother tongue." This is an expansion of the 1910 question that inquired only whether each member of the household (not his parents) was able to speak English and, if not, what language each spoke.

In 1930 the language question changed again, this time to inquire only the language spoken in the home before coming to the United States.

Genealogists who stick with their quests truly believe they can glean something valuable from almost any document. That certainly is true in the 20th century censuses. Those who haven't fully explored them should backtrack and finish the job. It's amazing how many hurdles can be crossed with this research.