Blog Some Genealogy

Genealogy, researchJuly 17, 2008 6:38 pm

United States Census Enumerators were instructed to take down the names of the family they were visiting, as the family was composed on the OFFICIAL DATE of the census — not the day of the actual visit.

The OFFICIAL DATES of the various censuses were:

  • –First Monday in August for 1790-1820 Schedules.
  • –June 1st for 1830-1880 Censuses.
  • –First Monday in June for 1890 (Most of This Census Was Destroyed by Fire in 1921).
  • –June 1st for 1900.
  • –April 15th for 1910.
  • –January 1st for 1920.
  • –April 1st for 1930.

For more information on using census records for genealogical research, see:
“U.S. Census Records: Soundexes, Indexes and Finding Aids”

Genealogy, InternetJuly 1, 2008 6:32 am

FAMILYPEDIA

I have just learned of FAMILYPEDIA, described as THE GENEALOGY WIKI.

Instructions on getting started and using the wiki site, how to communicate with others and general help is provided on the site. It describes itself:

This is a place where you can create articles about your ancestors, and easily link them to other articles about where and when they lived. You can work wholly within this wiki, or you can link your articles to sites on the world wide web. And because this is a wiki format, you can work collaboratively with others to create a network of articles about your ancestors and about those they lived and worked with—or simply about people you find interesting. As this site grows it is our hope that we will be able to gradually link our ancestors into a network that goes far beyond the simple nuts and bolts of who lived where and when, and a list of begats.

The focus of this site is on capturing the details of the lives of our ancestors, both those historically significant people and the everyday people usually not listed in encyclopaedias, histories, or even “people’s histories”. Along the way, it is our hope that the site will also provide information about the historical and social context that our ancestors found themselves within. Finally, this site aspires to be truly global, with active contributors and information from multiple cultures and all four Hemispheres.”