April 2012
33 posts
4 tags
Three Days Lost in 1940
Wow, it’s been a busy three days! I don’t know about you, but I’ve been having a blast exploring he 1940s neighborhoods where my ancestor lived. While it’s really nice to have an index, the good thing about browsing and using enumeration district maps is the opportunity to really get to know the places where they lived. This kind of knowledge can pay big dividends down the...
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Finding Grandma Boone
Oh Boone family, where are you hiding? From city directories and school yearbooks, I recently discovered some great information but I know the 1940 census holds some new information! Velma and Howard married young. Velma was just 15 when they were married. In 1930 she is 16 years old and has a new baby. Howard is working as an electrician for the switch board. They are renting a home...
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1940 Census for Dad, check. Memories flowing,...
While we were sleeping, wonderful things were happening behind the scenes at Ancestry.com. I was thrilled to wake up this morning to find Ohio posted. Before I even had my morning cup of coffee, I was diving in to find my dad’s first appearance in the census.
I was not disappointed. As my eyes rested on this record that has been hidden from view for 72 years, it was exciting to see the whole...
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Ask Ancestry Anne: How do I know when my state is...
Question: More than one of our members has asked: “How do I know when my state is available in the 1940 census?”
Answer: Watch our status page: 1940 United States Federal Census - Ancestry.com
At the bottom of the page you will see a list of the States and Territories and where they are in process.
This is updated manually and you will see the update at the bottom.
Even...
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Looking for Lavenia's Granddaughters
I am waiting for Iowa. And I’ve tried to convince my friends in our data-processing center that Iowa would be such a great state to start with. No one is buying.
Though I can’t wait to see my grandparents, aunts and uncles in the 1940 census records, the folks I am waiting to find, I don’t even know yet. For years I have been tracing the female descendants of my 3rd great grand-aunt, Lavenia...
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DC and Nevada are Complete--Indiana and Other...
Wow, states are loading quickly, with Washington, DC, and Nevada now complete. My home state of Indiana has 55 counties represented (of 92), and I’ve already identified who was living in my old house and quickly found my brother-in-law’s family in Jasper County. Whoohoo! We are off and running.
I think it’s only appropriate that on a day that’s like Christmas for family...
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Hail to the 1940 Chief
Our first big find in the 1940 census! None other than Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President, Head Honcho in Chief. Tracy Slade in our Digital Preservation department found this way past most people’s bedtime. But none of us could sleep ‘cuz we’re all too excited.
BTW, the 1940 census started streaming live at approximately 1:20 a.m. EST April 2 on Ancestry.com. You should...
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Ask Ancestry Anne: My grandmother's story...
I lost touch with my mother’s side of the family many years ago. But I have rediscovered the family through the documents on Ancestry.com
I’ve learned a lot about my grandmother Jennie Elizabeth Payne and then all of her brothers and sisters. In 1930, I found her and her orphaned brothers and sisters living together, her father and mother having died in the 1920’s. It gave me a whole new...
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Finding Daddy in the 1940 Census
Robert, Judy, and James Szucs, with John Mekalski (and John Szucs, Jr. in the doorway), c. 1942
I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve. As I write this we’re 28 hours from the release of the 1940 census. Yes, we’re measuring it in hours now. This is the first census that I’ll be able to see that includes my dad. He was a young boy in 1940 and I’ll find him, his brother and sister, and my...
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Finding My Adopted Family in the 1940 Census
Lou arriving in El Paso in the arms of her grandfather, Raymond Dyer, 1943
It was 1943 when my father became ill and my mother was left to support six little children. At 22 months of age, I was taken in by my mother’s sister’s family. My grandfather flew with me from New York to El Paso, Texas to the Pyburn home and what was supposed to be a temporary arrangement. My father never recovered so my...
March 2012
15 posts
2 tags
Our 1940 Stories: Remembering Small Town America
My mom grew up in Caldwell, Idaho, a little town near the Oregon border.
The family home is gone now—replaced by a medical complex—but not my memories of it. As a young girl a trip to grandma’s always meant feasting on fried chicken, making dolls out of hollyhock blossoms, and getting candy from the Penny Wise drugstore.
When the release of the 1940 census was announced I knew my first stop...
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Your 1940s Stories
Can you believe it’s almost here! No longer are we talking about the release of the 1940 census in terms of weeks or months—it’s only days away! As we sit here watching the clock and counting down, we thought it would be fun to get us in the mood with some of the stories you’ve sent us for our 1940s time capsule. (If you’d like to share your story, see the details at...
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Ask Ancestry Anne: Finding my grandparents in the...
One of the first families I will look for will be my paternal grandparents Gilbert Gillespie and Ann Gillespie nee Feazell. This will be the first census where I will see them married, and my Aunt Madeline will be on it as well. My dad was born in September of 1940, so he just missed appearing.
Fingers crossed that one of them is on line 14 or 29 and was asked supplementary questions, but I’ll...
11 tags
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Kris Williams: How I Got Started in Genealogy
“My life not availeth me in comparison to the liberty of the truth”
When I was 11 years old and in the 4th grade, I had a teacher who was obsessed with genealogy. She would regularly come in and tell my class about the new things she had found through her research. Eventually, as a graded project, she had us go home and start our own family tree. She gave us some pointers on how to get started...
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Movers and shakers who forged the way on Who Do...
On last night’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? award-winning actress Helen Hunt uncovered the stories in her dad’s family tree. She knew little about his family; her dad’s mother died when he was just five years old. But Helen’s goal to unlock the past and share it with her own daughter persevered. First stop – census records that directed her to California and ultimately the Gold Rush,...
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Helen Hunt Discovers Her Past on Who Do You Think...
Discovering that her great-grandmother was a leader in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union doesn’t sit well at first with award-winning actress Helen Hunt – until she traces this powerful female’s surprising impact on history. From groundbreaking roots in California to a women’s rights mover-and-shaker in Maine, it’s a story full of surprises. Watch it unfold on Friday night’s episode of Who Do...
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Win the Journey of a Lifetime in the 'Star of Your...
Who Do You Think You Are? follows some of today’s most beloved celebrities as they embark on personal journeys of discovery as their families’ histories are revealed. We all know a celebrity’s story is interesting, but what about your story?
Ancestry.com allows you to unlock so many magical moments in your family journey, and we want to allow you the mystique celebrities get to...
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Return of a Treasure
With a lead from an 1860 slave schedule, I found the name of my family’s slaveholder. Later, I located an article the slaveholder’s 2nd great-granddaughter had written about her family. Reluctantly, I contacted her and identified myself as the 2nd great-granddaughter of a slave owned by her 2nd great grandfather and I’m glad I did. I sent her results of extensive research I had done on my...
