Genealogy 101+: Using the 1940 Census

Thursday, October 4, 2012

The Genealogy 101+ series starts at this link.

Long before biblical times, humans kept records of people's names.  These early "genealogies" bring to mind the 'begats' in "Matthew" in the New Testament and the treasured entries of births, marriages and deaths found in family bibles owned by my ancestors.  Whether they were for lineage purposes, for government use, or kept for other reasons, records of who lived where and when have served as valuable resources throughout history and continue to be invaluable for genealogists today. 

The United States census records are among my favorite sources of information for family history research.  The U.S. Federal Census began in 1790 and, for the first time, in the 1850 census, each free person's name was listed and his or her age as of June 1st of that year was recorded.  With the release of the most recently available census information allowed by law, the 1940 census, researchers now have a treasure trove of information available to them.

Initially, at the time the 1940 census was released, the data was only searchable if you knew the city your ancestor lived in and area or street they lived on.  The data is now available to search by a person's name at this link (free for a limited time).  This access will make it much, much easier for the novice genealogist to have success in locating the records. 

Questions in the 1940 census included those you would expect:  name, age, gender, and race, education, and place of birth.  But the 1940 census also asks many new questions.  The following details about the 1940 census are from the National Archives website. 



1940 Blank Census Page

The instructions ask the enumerator to enter an [a circled x] after the name of the person furnishing the information about the family; whether the person worked for the CCC, WPA, or NYA the week of March 24-30, 1940; and income for the 12 months ending December 31, 1939. (The 1940 also has a supplemental schedule for two names on each page. The supplemental schedule asks the place of birth of the person's father and mother; the person's usual occupation, not just what they were doing the week of March 24-30, 1940; and for all women who are or have been married, has this woman been married more than once and age at first marriage.)
 
The complete list of the questions follows:

Location:

• Street, avenue, road, etc.
• House number (in cities and towns).

Household Data:

• Number of household in order of visitation.
• Home owned (O) or rented (R).
• Value of home, if owned, or monthly rental, if rented.
• Does this household live on a farm? (Yes or No).

Name:

• Name of each person whose usual place of residence on April 1, 1940, was in this household. Be sure to include:
  • Persons temporarily absent from household. Write "Ab" after names of such persons.
  • Children under 1 year of age. Write "Infant" if child has not been given a first name.
  • Enter X after name of person furnishing information.

Relation:

• Relationship of this person to the head of the household, as wife, daughter, father, mother-in-law, grandson, lodger, lodger's wife, servant, hired hand, etc...

Personal Description:

• Sex - Male (M), Female (F).
• Color or race.
• Age at last birthday.
• Marital status - Single (S), Married (M), Widowed (Wd), Divorced (D).

Education:

• Attended school or college any time since March 1, 1940? (Yes or No)
• Highest grade of school completed.

Place of Birth:

• If born in the United States, give State, Territory, or possession. If foreign born, give country in which birthplace was situated on January 1, 1937. Distinguish Canada-French from Canada-English and Irish Free State (Eire) from Northern Ireland.

Citizenship:

• Citizenship of the foreign born.

Residence, April 1, 1935:
IN WHAT PLACE DID THIS PERSON LIVE ON April 1, 1935? For a person who, on April 1, 1935, was living in the same house as at present, enter in Col. 17 "Same house," and for one living in a different house but in the same city or town, enter "Same place," leaving Cols. 18, 19, and 20 blank, in both instances. For a person who lived in a different place, enter city or town, county, and State, as directed in the Instructions. (Enter actual place of residence, which may differ from mail address.)

• City, town, or village having 2,500 or more inhabitants. Enter "R" for all other places.
• County.
• State (or Territory or foreign country).
• On a farm? (Yes or No).

Persons 14 Years Old and Over - Employment Status:

• Was this person AT WORK for pay or profit in private or nonemergency Gov't. work during week of March 24-30? (Yes or No).
• If not, was he at work on, or assigned to, public EMERGENCY WORK (WPA, NYA, CCC, etc.) during week of March 24-30? (Yes or No).

If neither at work nor assigned to public emergency work. ("No" in Cols. 21 and 22).

• Was this person SEEKING WORK? (Yes or No).
• If not seeking work, did he HAVE A JOB, business, etc.? (Yes or No).
  
  For persons answering "No" to question 21, 22, 23 and 24.
• Indicate whether engaged in home housework (H), in school (S), unable to work (U), or other (Ot).
  
  If at private or nonemergency Govt. work. "Yes" in col. 21.
• Number of hours worked during week of March 24-30, 1940.If seeking work or assigned to public emergency work. ("Yes" in Col. 22 or 23).
• Duration of unemployment up to March 30, 1940 - in weeks.

Occupation, Industry and Class of Worker:
For a person at work, assigned to public emergency work, or with a job ("Yes" in Col. 21, 22, or 24), enter present occupation, industry, and class of worker. For a person seeking work ("Yes" in Col. 23): a) if he has previous work experience, enter last occupation, industry, and class of worker; or b) if he does not have previous work experience, enter "New worker" in Col. 28, and leave Cols. 29 and 30 blank.

• Occupation: Trade, profession, or particular kind of work, as frame spinner, salesman, laborer, rivet heater, music teacher.
• Industry: Industry or business, as cotton mill, retail grocery, farm, shipyard, public school.
• Class of Worker.
• Number of weeks worked in 1939 (Equivalent full-time weeks).

Income in 1939 (12 months ended December 31, 1939):

• Amount of money wages or salary received (including commissions).
• Did this person receive income of $50 or more from sources other than money wages or salary? (Yes or No).
• Number of Farm Schedule.

Supplementary Questions 35-50:

For persons enumerated on lines 14 and 29 [about a 5% sample of the population]

• Name.

For Persons of All Ages:
Place of Birth of Father and Mother
If born in the United States, give State, Territory, or possession. If foreign born, give country in which birthplace was situated on January 1, 1937. Distinguish: Canada-French from Canada-English and Irish Free State from Northern Ireland.

• Father.
• Mother.

Mother Tongue (or Native Language):

• Language spoken in home in earliest childhood.

Veterans:
Is this person a veteran of the United States military forces; or the wife, widow, or under-18-year-old child of a veteran?

• If so, enter "Yes."
• If child, is veteran-father dead? (Yes or No)
• War or military service.

Social Security:

• Does this person have a Federal Social Security Number? (Yes or No)
• Were deductions for Federal Old-Age Insurance or Railroad Retirement made from this person's wages or salary in 1939? (Yes or No)
• If so, were deductions made from (1) all, (2) one-half or more, (3) part, but less than half, of wages or salary?

Usual Occupation, Industry, and Class of Worker:
Enter that occupation which the person regards as his usual occupation and at which he is physically able to work. If the person is unable to determine this, enter that occupation at which he has worked longest during the past 10 years and at which he is physically able to work. Enter also usual industry and usual class of worker. For a person without previous work experience, enter "None" in column 45 and leave columns 46 and 47 blank.

• Usual occupation.
• Usual industry.
• Usual class of worker.

For all women who are or have been married:

• Has this woman been married more than once? (Yes or No)
• Age at first marriage.
• Number of children ever born (do not include stillbirths).

Having this extensive and detailed information provides more than a glimpse of your ancestor's life.  It's equivalent to many hours of personal interviews!  It will give you so many clues to help you in your search for earlier information about your family.   

For those who are searching for their family history and have followed the suggestions listed in my prior postings, the 1940 census (and then sequential earlier censuses) is clearly the place to go next for more information about who their ancestors were.  Don't forget to observe clues on the pages about who lived with or near them.

For help in understanding census entries, read more at the linked websites or consult with the Brown County Library Family History Center, the UWGB Area History Research Center, the State Historical Society of Wisconsin Library, or numerous books and websites on the topic.