Transcription mistakes on census records

posted in: Family History, Genealogy | 0

When searching for census records, it is often difficult to find a family in the records.

So, why is this?  Especially when you know where they lived during that time.

census records

One reason may be transcription errors.  I have found some doozies over the years.

At times I wonder how they came up with such a huge error. Other times, I can see how it could be misconstrued.

So, if searching online for census records, how can you overcome these transcription mistakes?

  1. Search various spellings of the last name
  2. Search using first names {especially if it’s not a common name}
  3. Search using only last names
  4. Remember that sometimes initials were used for first names
  5. Search for other family members {children, spouse, neighbors, etc.}
  6. Find the city and area in which your ancestor lived. Pour over the pages.  This is time consuming, but I’ve had to do this several times.
  7. Find trees of other researchers in your family and see if they have pinned a census record for this ancestor
  8. Look at other transcription errors for this family in other years

In time, it is likely the ancestor will pop up on the census record. Never give up and keep searching.  In time you don’t know what you will uncover.

What are some interesting transcription mistakes you have found on census records?

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