Secrets of the Census, Part 2

The first federal census to list all members of a household appeared in 1850, but that's not the only thing that makes this enumeration so important to genealogists. This census also asked for the birthplace of each individual, and even though they didn't always do it, enumerators in this census were to read the information they recorded back to the interviewee so errors could be corrected, adding to its accuracy. This census, and the one following it, also included Slave Schedules for southern states (although New Jersey and the District of Columbia also participated). As we mentioned in our previous post about the early censuses, there were non-population schedules during the mid-nineteenth century, and in 1850, these schedules were created for agriculture, industry and manufacturing, mortality, social statistics, and veterans. Read on for much more on this census.

Secrets of the Census, Part 1

American genealogists take for granted that we have access to our census records. We understand there are privacy limits that keep us from seeing more recent censuses, but we also enjoy almost unlimited access to all of them from the first in 1790 to the most recently released, 1950. Yes, we know that some early censuses are missing, and most of us have heard the sad story about the loss of nearly all of the 1890 census due to the effects of a fire. Those of us who remember the days of cranking microfilm or plowing through Soundex cards are luxuriating in having the census enumerations digitized and forgiving of spelling mistakes in the online indexes. We now can breeze through dozens of pages, building our families with comparative ease. But, in our eagerness to collect census information, do we spend enough time really looking at what is on all those forms? We'll take a closer look at the secrets of the census in the next few weeks, beginning with the earliest and working our way forward in time.

September Genealogy Meetings and Events

  

Happy Labor Day! It's unofficially the end of summer, but we still have plans for weeks of pleasant weather ahead, just right for getting out and attending some genealogy meetings. So, we hope to see you in September for our monthly meeting, our German SIG meeting, and our special workshop on artificial intelligence at the end of the month. Read on for all the details.

Potpourri of Genealogy Events for Summer's Dog Days

Summer is waning; didn't it seem to go by quickly? The days are still bright, but cooler weather is finally in the forecast for those of us in the St. Louis area, and there are several interesting and exciting genealogy meetings and tours coming up around town. We'll talk about St. Louis Genealogical Society meetings for September next week; this week, we'll feature some things you might be interested in sponsored by our friends in St. Clair County (Illinois), the Missouri Historical Society, and Bellefontaine Cemetery.

Help us Preserve the Veteran Bounty Land Records—Update!

The National Genealogical Society (NGS) is spearheading a campaign to save thousands of precious military records housed in the National Archives that are rapidly deteriorating and of vital interest to genealogists. Along with the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and the leaders of FamilySearch, NGS is reaching out to local and state genealogy societies across the U.S. in an organized effort to preserve these records, and StLGS has recently begun to assist in these important efforts. We learned about the project a few months ago and posted some preliminary information then. Here is an update, now that StLGS is officially part of the project.

Ready to Learn More About Artificial Intelligence? Join us in September . . .

Exploring AI for Genealogy: A Hands-On Experience

Featuring StLGS co-webmaster, Jim Ross

Postcards Help Us Picture the Past

 More than a century before anyone sent an email or text message, the postcard was born. Evolving from a series of alternatives to long, tedious letter writing, the postcard as we know it was created by Dr. Emanuel Herrmann, an economics professor in Austria, whose ideas came to the attention of the Austrian Post, which, on 1 October 1869, created a Correspondenz-Karte. Printed on light-brown paper, about the size of a 3" x 5" index card, it had space on one side for an address, a blank back for a message, and a pre-printed stamp in the upper right. Most importantly, it cost half the price of a letter! Within just a few years, postcards were in wide use throughout the world. Today, postcards can assist in your genealogy research as well.