Washington Census Tips

United States Census Washington Census  Tips

Value of Censuses
Census records are extremely valuable in genealogical research. They:
 * 1) Reveal specifics about the family, such as names, ages, birthplaces. See Contents of Federal Censuses
 * 2) Locate the family in the very places where other records about them were likely created. (See Using the Census to find other records
 * 3) Provide clues that help you learn even more about them.

Helping you make the most of all these values is the purpose of this article.

Effective Census Tips
Why:
 * Relatives, such as grandchildren or married children, may live with them
 * They may live with a child, such as a married daughter, in their later years
 * Neighbors may be relatives or old friends from their home state.

Why:
 * You may find sisters living in the area.
 * Your ancestor's widowed mother may have remarried. In those censuses, were the women the right age(s) to be sisters? Aunts? The mother?
 * One of the husbands and your ancestor may have witnessed one anothers' deeds or other documents, perhaps suggesting they have become relatives.

Why:
 * Gaps in ages of children may be a clue to:
 * A second marriage of the couple: Check marriage records for this.
 * A child died young. Check cemetery, church, funeral, and other records.
 * Where the children were born (state, nation) may be a clue to:
 * When the family migrated
 * Ages of husband and wife may be clues:
 * In a second marriage, the husband may be older than the wife.
 * Compare ages of the wife and the children:
 * The oldest child: was the wife too young to be the mother? (Child-bearing years for most women were between 16–40.)
 * The youngest child: was the wife too old?

For example:

Immigration and Naturalization
Some federal censuses give the year of immigration.