Tuesday's Tip - Inputting Data on the 1930 U.S. Federal Census

1930 U.S. Federal Census

The form was actually done over a week ago, sadly I didn't just want to throw a form up without any good information to go with it and last week was busy.  I mean crazy-busy, but with moving and the end of the school year, I need to accept that this is going to be life for the foreseeable future.  So on to another census which means another form that you can download, input data, and save to your computer!

The 1930 census occurred during the Great Depression so it really gives us a special look into the lives of our ancestors.  There's lots of great information that you can read about regarding the data that was collected for the census, and always remember that there was more than the census for the general population.  You can head on over to the U.S. Census Bureau's website and see lots of great statistics about the information.  There were agriculture reports, reports on mining/quarries, unemployment, etc.  So many different ways that you can look into the lives of your ancestors!

Additionally, there was some drama surrounding the 1930 census because of the Great Depression.  You can read more about it by clicking here, but essentially, the statistics from the census were in high demand to assess just how bad the Depression was, but when the numbers came back they were criticized for being too low and the census was called "unreliable".  An additional census on unemployment was conducted in January 1931 and then another in 1937 (this last one was completely voluntary).

Of course there are lots of great places to look for information on the 1930 census (and all others) and I'm only throwing out a few things, but by far, the U.S. Census Bureau and 1930census.com are two of my favorite places to look.  1930census.com has great maps and historical tidbits to familiarize you with the decade, while the U.S. Census Bureau goes into more detail.

Well, on that note (and with a pretty good thunderstorm starting to hit outside here in Killeen, TX) I'm going to post the form and power-down the electronics.

As always, please let me know if there are any issues with the form.  For some reason the form keeps "tabbing" back to the first row, so until I can stop swearing at Excel and figure out how to fix that, you'll need to click in the row you want to input data.  It has something to do with tabbing through a line that isn't horizontal (the street name line and the notes box).  If anyone has any ideas/knowledge on how to correct this please let me know!

The form has been locked to keep you from accidentally deleting anything on the form.  It also (thank you Google Docs) looks like the document is more than one page sometimes, and sometimes it just looks like things are out of place when viewed on Google Docs, but rest assured that once you download it, it should be just one page!  You can access the form by clicking any of the links for "1930 census" or by clicking here.

Until next time, have fun tending those roots!

Tuesday's Tip - Inputting Data on the 1920 U.S. Federal Census

1920 U.S. Federal Census

Things have been crazy busy with the Easter holiday and de-cluttering the house so we can put it on the market, so I was debating whether or not to put up another census form today.  I hadn't created it yet, and it takes a little bit of time (I'm a perfectionist and like to be as close to exact as possible on these things), but as I woke up this morning thinking that I would simply turn out a quick Tombstone Tuesday with some research thrown in there, I saw a comment from Michelle Goodrum from "Turning of Generations" fame.  Her comment on my 1910 census letting me know that she's enjoying the forms was all it took to get me going.  Up to this point I was really wondering if they were useful to anyone (apart from me, that is)!

Thank you, Michelle, for getting me back on track!  Now on to the 1920 census!

I've been really enjoying the US Census Bureau's website recently.  I love the historical information they give for the decade the census was taken, and I love the fact that they usually have the instructions for the census takers (always a good thing to know!).

An interesting tid-bit I found from the Census Bureau was:

"The results of the 1920 census revealed a major and continuing shift of the population of the United States from rural to urban areas.  No apportionment was carried out following the 1920 census; representatives elected from rural districts worked to derail the process, fearful of losing political power to the cities.  Reapportionment legislation was repeatedly delayed as rural interests tried to come up with mechanisms that would blunt the impact of the population shift.  Congress finally passed a reapportionment bill in 1929.  The bill declared that the House of Representatives would be apportioned base on the results of the 1930 census."

Want to check out the report on Mines and Quarries from the 1920 census?  How about the Agriculture report?  Manufacturing?  Well, you can check out the reports on these and more on the Census Bureau's website here.

There's so much great information out there to help you understand the time period your ancestors lived in, and it's so important to remember not to think of their world as ours is today.  Sometimes we forget that...I know I do.

So now you've got another census form that you can download, input your ancestor's information into and save right to your computer.  Remember that you can access this census form that I created by clicking on any of the "1920 census" links in this blog, or by clicking here.  The form when it opens in Google Docs always appears to have more than one page, but rest assured that when you download the form, it will be in one piece.

The form is locked so that you can tab from one blank to another without accidentally erasing the form itself.  I did notice one quirk in the form.  I placed the "Notes" section at the top in this form.  Each time you tab across and hit the "Notes" section, it spits you back to the first row.  I have no idea why it does this (any suggestions to fix it are greatly appreciated!), but it's something to keep in mind when entering the information in that top set of cells.  The bottom set works fine though!

If you notice any other issues with the form or have trouble accessing it, please let me know and I'll do whatever I can to fix it.  The other input-able forms can be accesses by clicking on the "tag" labeled "FORMS" on the left-hand side of the blog.  Confused?  I think I am too at this point.  I need to stop writing this post while sitting in on my son's Boy Scout meeting!

Until next time, good luck finding your ancestors in the 1940 census and tending those roots!

UPDATE:  The links to the 1920 form were apparently bringing up the 1910 census form I created.  The link has been changed, so you'll get the right form now!  Thanks, Pam, for letting me know!

Tuesday's Tip - Inputting Data on the 1830 U.S. Census

1830 U.S. Federal Census

Last week was the 1820 census.  This week it's time to topple the 1830 census!  More cells to input data although that doesn't necessarily mean more usable information.  I'll make my point on that in a moment.  The U.S. Census Bureau sums up this census by stating:

"Prior to the passage of the census act authorizing the fifth census in 1830, President Adams, in his fourth address to the U.S. Congress on December 28, 1828, suggested the census commence earlier in the year than August 1. He also proposed that the collection of age data should be extended from infancy, in intervals of 10 years, to the “utmost boundaries of life”. These changes were incorporated into the census act of March 23, 1830. As in the previous census, the enumeration was made by an actual inquiry by the marshals or assistants at every dwelling house, or, as the law stated, by “personal” inquiry of the head of every family, and began on June 1."

So the data is better for you in that it gives more age groups (still only the heads of households though).  More age groups means it's easier for you to better analyze who is in the household and perhaps rule out or confirm that they are your ancestors.  Not more information on those people.  There is a column to mark if any were "Deaf and Dumb," blind or not naturalized, but it doesn't give you any indicators as to who those people are.  Still, it's better than nothing and they are improving.

I also found it interesting that for the whites they had 13 categories where age was broken down for the men and the women.  For slaves and free colored persons it was less than half that at 6 categories for each gender.  It does give us an insight into the minds of the people at that time.  I will stop there or may become too critical.  Historical context, I know.  I must detach myself emotionally from that.

Sadly, no attempt to collect data on business/agriculture/industry was made. The Bureau didn't state why, but I'm sure there were reasons.

Again, more good information at www.1930census.com with their overview of the census, the map of the United States in 1830, and the historical facts for that time period are back!  It's always a great idea to check out what was going on in the country and world at that time so you can put the data into better context.

As I've mentioned before the spreadsheet will appear to have more than one page when viewed through Google Docs, but when you download it there will only be one page.  Again, the cells where there are test are locked so you can't accidentally type over the text.  It also makes it easier going from cell to cell without having to avoid the text cells.  It will just jump to the next empty cell.

Sorry, not "Notes" block on this form.  Too much information to squeeze in and the font was already too small.  Didn't want to push my luck there.  The rows for data input are numbered so it's easier when moving to the bottom group.

If you have any trouble viewing or downloading the spreadsheet, just comment or send me an email and I'll see what I can do to fix it.  So far there hasn't been any trouble since the very first sheet I posted.  I'll cross my fingers!

Let me know if there are any mistakes as well.  I'm sure you can imagine my eyes were starting to go crossed by the time I was done with this form!  Corrections and suggestions are always welcome!

To access the form simply click on the image at the top of the page or click on anywhere it says "1830 census".

Good luck and have fun tending those roots!

Tuesday's Tip - Inputting Data on the 1820 Census

1820 U.S. Federal Census

Last week I talked about the 1810 census and how similar it was to the 1800 census.  This week we'll take a look at the 1820 census...and what a census!  We started getting our act together here!  More data than in the last three and by the looks of it a fair bit more organized!  Still not as much data here as we genealogists enjoy in the later censuses, but we can now see at least the type of work the people were engaged in and the number of people of foreign birth that were not naturalized.  It still only gives the names of the heads of household, but you can at least tell a bit more about citizenship/birth and that may lead you to documents!

The census form each person spreads over 2 pages, so make sure you check out both sides or you'll be wondering where the rest of the information is!

The people at the U.S. Census Bureau have not only posted on their site a copy of the legislation enacting the 4th U.S. Census, a.k.a. the 1820 census, but the statistics from that census, the oaths sworn by the census takers and their version of the census form!

The 4th U.S. Census was conducted under the direction of the Secretary of State.  The legislation was enacted in March of 1820 and the census began in August 1820, concluding in September 1821.

The people at www.1930census.com have once again provided a map to what our country looked like at the time the census was taken.  Sadly, their timeline/historic data for this decade is down,  for the count.  Hopefully we'll see some great historical context in there soon!

I've got to say that creating these inputtable forms is really helping me understand that you can get more out of the older censuses than we may realize.  Next week I'll have the 1830 census ready to post and then the week after the 1840 census (and the first one that I really have any family in America to use!).  

As for the inputtable form, the same applies as before:

1)  The Google document claims to be more than one page, but rest assured that once you download the form it will be one page only

2)  The form is locked so you don't have to worry about typing in the wrong fields and erasing the census questions.  You can only make changes to the blank fields.

3)  If there is any trouble downloading the form please let me know and I'll see what can be done to fix it.

Remember to get to the Google Form just click on the image at the top of the blog post or the 1820 link in the first paragraph.

Until next week I hope you enjoy the forms and enjoy tending those roots!