welcome to the ancestral findings podcast have you used the 1940 census in your family history
research if you have been doing genealogy for a while you probably have used it many
times whether you are experienced with it or are new there are probably some things in it
you've missed here's how to get the most valuable genealogical information out of the 1940 census
the 1940 US census is currently the most recent one available to the public including Family
History researchers current federal law provides for the release of census information to the
public 72 years after a census was taken the next federal census which is the 1951 will be released
to the public in April of 2022 in the meantime you have probably explored the 1940 census as it has
been available since 2012 however have you made the most of your work with it whether you have
used the 1940 census before or are using it for the first time here are some things you should be
looking at to ring every single drop of important genealogical information out of it which is the
goal of every serious genealogist take a look at your ancestors previous residence as a genealogist
you probably know the frustration that can come from that tenure gap in family information between
censuses if your family stayed in the same place for long periods of time it isn't such a big deal
but if they moved around a lot or even just once between censuses you may have a hard time finding
records on them in the places they lived that were not recorded this is where the 1940 census comes
in handy it is the first u.s. federal census to list where an individual or family lived between
censuses this census asks where people lived on April 1st 1935 when you know this information
you can look up records on your ancestors in that place finding out more about them in a
way you could not have if you didn't know where they live between the 1930 in 1940 census using
this information to find new local and regional records on your ancestors is invaluable so do
not ignore it was your ancestor hiding something while it did not happen often sometimes people
either refused to answer census questions or did not answer them truthfully this could be
because they didn't believe the government was entitled to know anything about them or because
they wanted to appear like they were younger than they were had more education than they did were
from somewhere else than they were or any number of other reasons if a person outright refused to
answer a question despite cajoling by the census enumerator the enumerator was supposed to write
refused to answer on the census if the enumerator suspected the answer given to a question was a lie
they were not supposed to record that answer if you see refused to answer or a blank box where
an answer should be regarding your ancestor that lets you know your ancestor may have been hiding
something and that you should look further into other records to tease out the correct
answer to that question who answered the census questions census enumerators on the 1940 census
were instructed to interview the person who was best qualified to give accurate answers to the
questions this meant to always try to interview adults rather than children lodgers or boarders
rather than the homeowner and to interview the homeowner rather than their lodgers or
boarders if the best person who lived in the household could not be interviewed after the
third attempted visit then another person from the household or a neighbor was to be interviewed
about the household instead the 1940 census lets you know who in the household or outside of it
answered the questions for that household by looking at this information you can determine
how accurate the information given is likely to be assuming a first-choice interview subject
answered the questions truthfully or at all if you find a person answered who wasn't as likely
to know the correct answers as a more desirable interview subject you know you should look at
other record sources to corroborate those answers to determine how correct or not they are this way
you get the most accurate answers for your genealogy research look at the supplementary
questions the 1940 census had a number of interesting supplementary questions that your
ancestor may or may not have answered if they did you are in great genealogical luck because
the answers to these questions can be extremely informative about your family and its history
pay attention to the supplementary questions and your ancestors answers to them if they did
answer them also remember that not everyone was asked the supplementary questions for time and
efficiency reasons only a small sample population were asked them if your ancestor was asked them
and answer them you have hit a genealogical gold mine on the 1940 census some of the supplementary
questions include the birthplace of the interview subjects parents the language they spoke at home
as a child whether or not they are a veteran wife or widow of a veteran or an under 18 child of a
veteran and which war in branch of the military in which the veteran served whether the interview
subject has a social security number and if they had deductions taken from their paycheck the
previous year for the Social Security old-age insurance program or railroad retirement their
current occupation the number of marriages age at first marriage and the number of children
for of aged women in the household as you can see there is a lot of hidden information to be
mined in the 1940 census if you look carefully at these things you can add a lot of valuable
information to your family tree in addition the 1940 census has information on it that can lead
you to other valuable family tree records in other locations and repositories just pay attention to
the answers and follow the clues to the record trail the 1940 census is quite a detailed one
when you look at it closely mine it's deep gems and let it lead you to valuable genealogical goal
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