Sticky Notes

“Hitler tried to kill me. I’m still alive. He’s dead”.

Israel Arbeiter, the author of those words, turned 87 within the past week. If you had asked him in 1939 whether he would have lived this long he would have said “unlikely”.

When the Germans marched into his city of Plonsk, Poland 73 years ago Izzy Arbeiter’s life became more complicated. The middle of five boys, Arbeiter, like most Jews in Poland, hoped for the best, but had an uneasy feeling they may be in for the worst.

There were rumors already floating around about deportations and camps where Jews and other “non-desirables” were being taken, but that was just talk on the street. It couldn’t be true. Taken from their homes, their possessions stolen, families torn apart just because of their faith?

Israel Arbeiter’s parents and youngest brother were eventually sent to the death camp at Treblinka, where they were gassed and cremated. Another brother simply disappeared. He may have lived. He may have died. No one knows. Izzy Arbeiter and one other brother survived.  They lived because they were young and strong and would make excellent slave-laborers for the Nazi war machine.

Israel Arbeiter’s Holocaust journey took him through various slave-labor camps and eventually to the worst camp of them all, Auschwitz, where over one million died.

Beginning next week, Israel Arbeiter will make his final trip back to Poland from his home in the United States and re-trace his Holocaust footsteps. He will begin in his home city of Plonsk. A place where he saw his parents and younger brother for the final time. He will visit the camp where they were killed and the various slave camps where the Nazi’s did all they could to to break his will and spirit. He will walk through the gates of Auschwitz-Birkenau and relive memories that most of us just can’t dream up, even in our worst nightmares. He will reflect on the tattoo that still marks him as a victim and a survivor of Auschwitz: A18651.

Arbeiter will end his journey in Germany, where he found freedom as the war ended in Europe, just as the Nazi’s were planning to kill him and other survivors to keep their crimes against humanity hidden. Germany is also where he met his future bride, another Holocaust survivor.

Also on this trip, Israel Arbeiter will search for religious artifacts hastily buried under the dirt floor of a basement the day the Germans entered Plonsk, Poland. Items his family didn’t want the Nazi’s to find and destroy. He will hold these religious symbols for the first time in 73 years.

He will wipe the decades old dirt from them and see his past. Items that once belonged to his family and now all he has left of their life prior to September 1st, 1939, the day the Nazi’s marched into Poland. Israel Arbeiter is about to embark on a journey that has to be seen to be believed and we would like you to come along.

We hope you will join us here on Ancestry.com’s blog page beginning on April 23rd as the World War II Foundation documents daily, in video and words, Izzy Arbeiter’s journey home as part of a larger documentary film project, Prisoner A18651 which will debut in the fall of 2012.

To learn more about Israel Arbeiter in a short narrative voiced by Hollywood icon Dan Aykroyd, please visit the following link: http://youtu.be/C5ZDmGiJohM  

This blog post is courtesy of Tim Gray, who is Chairman of the non-profit WWII Foundation. To learn more about the WWII Foundation and to donate to their projects, which preserve the stories of the World War II generation, please visit www.wwiifoundation.org

I confess, the 1940 census wasn’t that big a deal to me. I know, I know. It’s an unparalleled document, a single, enormous map of the entire United States population. And it will be a doorway for millions of folks just getting started on their family history, a 10-year head start over 1930. 

But for me, what was there to find? True, it’s the first census that would include my parents, but I already knew what it had to tell me. It would be fun to take a look at see them at home, but it wasn’t going to tell me much, if anything, that was new.

Except, my parents aren’t there. 

I’ve looked through the enumeration districts for both hometowns. Nothing. I found three of my mother’s half-brothers, a family of cousins my dad grew up with. But no parents, no grandparents, no homes, no addresses. They simply aren’t where they were supposed to be—or at least, they aren’t where I always thought they were.

Suddenly, 1940 got real interesting. I know my dad’s mentioned that his family lived part of one year in another state. Was it in 1940? And now that I think about it, why did they go? I know the name of my mother’s tiny hometown—I’ve been there. But there was a second marriage and a divorce. Was there a move, too? Apparently I don’t know everything I thought knew. 

So move over all you bleary-eyed 1940 junkies. I’m coming in. 

Paul Rawlins, Ancestry.com Publications Manager

My biggest discovery in the 1940 census was something I’d always known, but never understood until I saw it on paper—virtual paper that is.

My dad’s stories about his childhood always included his cousins, whether they were climbing trees (and breaking arms) or racing homemade boats in the irrigation canal. 

I knew my dad’s cousins must have lived nearby or they wouldn’t have spent so much time together. I just never realized how close. When I found the census record for my dad on Tuesday (yes, it took me a day to finally get access!) I was amazed to find the entire neighborhood populated with my extended family. Living on the same street were his aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. 

I understand a little more now why they’re such a close-knit family—and it sure cuts down on the number of census records I need to search for!

Tana Pedersen, Ancestry.com Employee

Anna and Joe Dansbury

William Dansbury’s first wife died in 1938, leaving him with three small children. By 1942 he married his first wife’s cousin, my grandmother, Anna Steffes, and had another baby boy. I’m not exactly sure how quickly he remarried but 1940 is a critical year. Were they married yet? Or was my grandmother still working as a teacher?  By some standards she was a bit of an old maid. Anna was born in 1907 so by 1938 she was already 31 years old. I know almost nothing about her life before she was married. She was the oldest of ten children. She considered joining a convent at one point. Anna was deeply religious and went to church every day until she was in her late eighties. 

The 1940 census will tell me about how William was managing his young family. Did his mother Ellen move in to help him? How long was he single?

William died in 1946 leaving Anna a widow with three step-children and three young children of her own.  I’ll never know how she managed it!  I’m not sure when he bought the house my father grew up in but the family remained in the same neighborhood for 60 years.  I can read about William in the local newspaper because he was a policeman. Someone who worked for the local paper must have lived nearby because the boys are mentioned in the paper frequently.  

But Anna isn’t mentioned at all. I think she was too busy working to go to parties or school events. I’d like to find out if Anna was still living with her parents in 1940 and helping with the younger children, or if she is a new bride living with William and his three children. 

Laura Dansbury, Ancestry.com Director, Product Management

In the 1940 census, I could not locate my relatives where I knew they had to be.  I had their correct address from a 1940 city directory, so I knew they lived at 4444 River Rd.  I had the correct ED and block number, so excitedly I find 4439 River Rd., then 4440, 4442, and then the enumerator went on to the next block, skipping 4444 and 4446!  Agh!  Disappointedly, I asked my mother (who used to work for the Census Bureau) what their instructions would have been if they realized that something had been skipped.  She said to look at the last page of the ED and see if the missed addresses were added there.  They were! 

I just thought I would share this since it seems this seems to have been a fairly common occurrence. 

Grace Yuhasz

One of the best parts about my job is how often I come in contact with historic locations. Most of these places I never dreamed I’d be fortunate enough to see outside the pages of a history book. Twice, in the last five years, I have had the opportunity to work with artifacts and locations that were directly linked to the Titanic. My first experience with this infamous ship came when I was brought in to work with artifacts that were recovered from the wreck. These pieces, collected from the ocean floor, were believed to be haunted by those who died in the disaster. I will be the first to say that I nerded out a bit over the opportunity. My second encounter with the Titanic came when I was sent to a little seaport town called Cove for work.

In November of 2010, I had found myself in southern Ireland boarding a small fishing boat. We were headed out to work for the night on an island just off the coast of Cove. Once aboard, I noticed this old, rotting pier that jetted out into the water in front of a yellow, weather-beaten building. This building displayed a sign that read, “Titanic Bar Restaurant” and sat adjacent to our pier. After asking one of the locals with us, I learned that Cove, once known as Queenstown, was the last port of call for the Titanic.

On April 11, 1912, 123 passengers used that old, rotting pier to board the Titanic before it headed out for its ill-fated, maiden voyage. Three days later, just before midnight on April 14, the Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Within a few hours, in the early morning of April 15, this enormous ship sank, taking with it 1,517 out of the 2,228 lives on board. Out of the 123 passengers who boarded in Cove, only 44 would survive.

A century later, the Titanic is still considered one of the greatest maritime disasters in history. We all know about the disaster and the number of people who died, but who were the men, women and children that made up those figures? With help from the new Titanic Collection on Ancestry.com, we are now able to get a better look at who these passengers and crewmembers were. Through this collection of scanned original passenger lists, crew records, fatality reports and coroner’s records the passengers become more then just a number. Becoming aware of the passengers personal details makes this event less about cold statistics. It makes us turn our attention to what made the Titanic such a historic tragedy; the large loss of life.

I will never forget the sadness I felt while looking at that timeworn pier in Cove. I could imagine the people waiting, excited to board the enormous luxury liner that was believed to be unsinkable. The whole town must have turned out; thrilled to welcome this massive history making ship to their seaport. I also found it difficult to shake the eerie feeling I got as we set out on our little boat. For some, on April 11, 1912, this same colorful seaport skyline would be the last town they’d set their feet and eyes on.

By Kris Williams
Twitter: @KrisWilliams81

My mother was born prematurely in October  1919, in Seattle, Washington. Her mother,  Estella, had been under a doctor’s care for a month prior to death per her death certificate.  Estella died in the hospital at the age of 28, just two weeks after the birth, of complications typically seen with the notorious Spanish flu. The epidemic struck Seattle in 1918, and a year later was still victimizing the most vulnerable populations.

My grandfather was suddenly widowed and left with a fragile newborn and two other daughters, ages eight and four. It was a terrible scenario and I wish the stories of how they managed had been passed down, but my family was not one to look back at a number of painful memories. Most of it was left for me to uncover as a genealogist.  The 1920 U.S. census gave me a surprising and poignant insight into this family tragedy.

The census was taken approximately two months after my grandmother’s death.  It was sobering to see my grandfather and the three girls listed, and also his mother, a native of San Francisco, who must have been brought in to help.  But when I gave it all a more careful look some time later, I was surprised to find there was a second family listed at the same address. It was Estella’s brother, wife, and their two children—ages six and eight.

I have since found and visited this still-existing bungalow. (As your valuable Census Tips indicate, the addresses are noted along the side of the form.) The extended family was living on top of one another in response to such a crisis.  My two young aunts must have been overwhelmed . Their mother never came home, and was replaced by a needy infant and an infusion of family members.  Without the U.S. census, I would never have known about this.  Many human stories like this one are waiting to be found within the records of the 1940 U. S. Census.

Nancy Barnhart

Help Anne!

I want to find George Canavan in 1940 in Pittsburgh, possibly on 1919 Warren St. But Pennsylvania is HUGE and I don’t know where to start. I’m impatient and really want to find something. Help me!

— Jolene Worth

Jolene,

Help is on the way.  Let’s lay this out in steps, so we can repeat them later.

Step 1: Street Address  Find a street address if you can.  In rural areas this may not be as necessary, but in cities such as Pittsburgh it is a must unless you want to search tens of Enumeration Districts and thousands of pages.

But we have a possible address, so let’s go with that.  First, I look up the address on a map program so I know cross streets.

Step 2: Find the enumeration district. On the 1940 Census home page, you’ll find tools to help narrow your search.  I chose “Already know the cross streets?”  I choose Pennsylvania, Allegheny, and Warren for the the street. Then I choose Rising Main Ave and Lanark.

Be warned…this works most of the time, but sometimes, the ED is wrong and you have to try other combinations. 

Step 3: Examine the enumeration district.Let’s go to Enumeration District 69-712:

First then we need to do is find the image with the correct street. Go to the Image Controls under Actions and Rotate Right so that you can easily see the street names:

Choose Rotate right and zoom in so you can read the street names, and starting paging through to find Warren.

We find 1919 Warren St on Page 12 and find George Canavan.  Be warned…lots of people have been finding the address only to find that the people they are looking for have moved.  But you don’t know if you don’t look.

Step 4. Examine the image:

So what do we see on the census?  We know that George owned his own home, and it was worth $1200 and it wasn’t a farm. If you move over to the Education column, column 14 has an “H-4” in it which tells us that George completed 4 years of high school. Column 15 tells us he was born in Pennsylvania.

Columns 17-19 tell us that the family lived in the same place in 1935.  That XOXO in Column D tells us that “Same Place” is a legitimate place to have lived in 1935.

Employment information can be found in columns 21-33.  You’ll notice that George worked 32 hours the previous week (Column 26), he was a Crane man in a Steel Mill and he was a paid worker (Columns 28-30) and he worked 52 weeks in 1939 and earned $1200. (Columns 31 & 32).

You will also notice that George’s wife was asked supplemental questions.  And the circled x next to Alice’s name means that she was the one who supplied this information to the enumerator.

If you look down at the bottom of the census image, you will see the supplemental lines (there are two on every image).  The most interesting part here might be that she was 18 when she was first married, it was her first marriage and that she had 2 children.

Make sure you read the image completely when you finally find it!  The information may just confirm what you already now, but the bits of information about education and income give you a picture of the family’s life in 1940.

Happy Searching!

— Ancestry Anne

Throughout my life my mother reminded me what a very bright child I was when I was very young. One story she told was that at 18 months old, I would go shopping for her every day to purchase a bottle of milk. It consisted of walking down a flight of stairs in the apartment building on Ten Eyck Walk in Brooklyn, and going around the building to a grocery store. After her death, I visited the area in Brooklyn. It is a large complex of apartment buildings known as Williamsburg Housing. Walking around the area, I concluded the only address that fit my mother’s story was 151 Ten Eyck Walk. It had a convenience store attached to it, and from a second story apartment it would be possible for my mother to follow me as I walked around the building. 

The 1940 census was released Monday and by the evening, Ancestry.com had New York State on its website. I went to the enumeration district that included Williamsburg Housing and there was the Mokotoff family—address 151 Ten Eyck Walk. Furthermore, judging from the position in the list of families, it was likely that we lived on the second floor. 

Gary Mokotoff
Avotaynu.com

Here are a few links that you might find helpful in your 1940 Census searches:

1940 Census Page

Livestream Archive-1940 Live Look-ups (Scroll down past the live window)

1940 Research Guide (PDF)

1940s Era Records

U.S. City Directories (Beta)  

U.S. City Directories

1940s Map

Happy Friday, and it is a good one here in the land of everything family history!  As of early this morning all of the 1940 images are live! Over 3.8 million images are now available to view. In addition, we have our first two indexes rolled LIVE as well on the site. Now you can search through Nevada and Delaware using a person’s name, not just page through the images.

So who besides me is making an appointment with their eye doctor for tired eyes? Wow, those enumeration district (ED) maps can take a toll. But how fun is it to zero in on the place where your family lived and then find them in those amazing records?  That feeling of satisfaction from the thrill of the hunt is multiplied when we get to learn about our family during that pivotal time in history—between the Great Depression and World War II. As I was reminded in one of our Live Look-up Chats, this census offers a parting glimpse of so many heroes who went off to fight, and ended up dying for our country. For these and many more reasons, it’s so important for us to find our family and preserve their memories. So let’s get to it.

First Up, Finding Addresses on ED Maps without Going Insane

OK, so as I mentioned, my eyes are threatening to leave their sockets unless I find a better way to search these ED maps. One thing I’ve started doing is pretty basic and some of you may already be doing this. I’m pulling up the address on a current map site, like Google maps. I search for the address and note surrounding streets and any landmarks that will help me find the spot on the ED maps.

Once I’ve gotten my bearings in the close up shot, I zoom out to see the wider area. Getting this perspective helps me to figure out which ED map I should use and is very helpful. I can see if the address is to the southeast of the city, or that it’s on the west side of a river, or that a diagonal thoroughfare runs near it, for example.

Even though some of the maps are broken up and span multiple images, you can tell where the tops and edges are and get a fix for which sections of the maps will have the section for the southeast portion of the city, the northwest section, etc.  The more I work with them, the easier it gets.

Next Up, Screenshots, Take Two

After last night’s post (if you missed it, it’s here), I heard from several of you wondering about how to grab a screenshot. There are several ways to grab an image from your screen that you can print or edit with online tools, and while I can’t get into particulars with any one program I’ll touch on some basic options that most of us have available to us through our standard computer accessories.

Commercial Products. There are a number of commercial products available and a quick search for “screenshot software” or screen capture software” should pull up a list of products to review—some free and some are available with a paid license. Most products offer a free trial so you can try them and buy only if you like it. Talk to other genealogists and see what they’re using. Our Facebook page  is a great place to network with other family historians, who are always eager to help and offer advice.

Windows. If you have Windows, you should be able to hit CTL and Print Screen (usually found on the top row of the keyboard above numbers and navigation controls). This will copy what you are seeing on your screen to an invisible clipboard. In your list of programs on the Start menu, look for Accessories and open that folder. Then select Paint. (You could also use a Word or Wordpad document for this purpose.) Open it up and click CTL and V. This will paste the item from that invisible clipboard to your document or image. In Paint you can save it as an image file, or if you’ve pasted into a document, it will save as that document type.

From there you can print your map or insert shapes like arrows or lines that help you delineate enumeration district (ED) boundaries, highlight numbers, mark intersections near your family, or whatever else you’d like to do. If you’re a paper person, highlighters work fantastic. This makes it easy for you to glance back and forth at the map while you’re navigating the census images and zero in even faster on the address you’re looking for.

Mac. OK, for this one I had to call my boss, Jeanie, for advice. I don’t have a Mac, so she’s my go-to girl for this. If you’re a Mac user, look in your applications, click on Utilities, and look for Grab. Then go to Capture and choose from there. You can find more information and other options for grabbing a screen shot here. 

Happy hunting!

Juliana Smith

Juliana@Ancestry.com

We should all be aware of what took place in our country leading up to the 1940 census and what followed shortly after. Our country had experienced many ups and downs in just a short span of time. From the prosperity of the roaring 20’s till its end in 1929 with the crash of the stock market; resulting in The Great Depression. To the rise of organized crime in 1920 due to prohibition; till it’s end in 1933 with the 21st Amendment. Following end of prohibition, there was the Golden Age of Hollywood that made “stars” out of gangsters. Radio was the main source of news and entertainment, like today’s Internet. The airwaves were dominated by popular radio shows, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Glenn Miller and The Andrews Sisters.

In Europe, the rise of the Nazi Party and Hitler were tearing countries and families apart. The United States tried to remain distant from the war in Europe. However, it became unavoidable with the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese in 1941. While the Great Depression taught people to make due and save, WWII sent our young men off to war and changed women’s roles in society forever.

I have always found the 1930’s -1940’s to be one of the most fascinating times in our history. There was so much life altering change, in such a short amount of time, it touched everyone. How were all of these events affecting the everyday American? More importantly, how did they affect your family?

The 1940 census is the first census to be released in the last 10 years. What is different about this census is the amount of information that is included in it. For starters, it shows who in the family filled it out, people living in the household and those who were not home when it was taken. Other details it covers are-the highest level of education completed, employment, income, and where they resided 5 years before in 1935. Along with the standard information, sampling techniques were added to the 1940 census. 1 in 20 people were asked to answer 14 additional questions, which included literacy, income and fertility. So much information was included that 72 years ago when it was put out, there were moves by organizations and senators to have it boycotted completely.

The most fascinating part to me about the 1940 census is that many who were included in it, are still alive today. My grandparents were in their late teens or early twenties when it was taken; for you it may have been your parents who were. Getting a better understanding of the time period that shaped them, will give us a better understanding of how its directly affected the people we are today. The 1940 census can not only tell us about the state our country was in as a whole, but it is also a glimpse at what life was like for our parents or grandparents.

This isn’t actually a question, but a comment that might help when people can’t find a specific address.

I worked the 1990 census in the “follow-up” phase where we went back to obtain forms from households who hadn’t returned them.  There were many residences where the street name had changed due to increased traffic on the original road. It was no longer safe for mail delivery or a driveway to be on what was now a busy highway. So the house hadn’t moved, but instead of being 701 Main Street it was now 701 Harvest Drive. They made the landowner move the driveway to the side street. 

This will look really confusing on the census forms because all other houses on Harvest Drive have very different numbers.

— Deb

Thanks Deb for sharing.  You just never know what twist you might run into on your search.

Happy searching!

— Ancestry Anne

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 road.

As I’ve helped many of you in our daily Live Look-ups on Livestream, I’ve also been able to explore some of your ancestors’ neighborhoods. As I’ve done so, we’ve had some challenges with some searches, so I thought I’d share some tips I’ve found useful.

Print and/or Edit Maps

Sometimes the Enumeration District Maps aren’t the easiest to read. In one case I took a screen shot that I saved as a JPG file, and used my photo editing program to lighten and darken maps with some degree of success.

I’ve also used screen shot editing programs to grab portions of maps and add lines, circles, and arrows where the edges of the enumeration district (ED) are not distinct. This gives me a better picture of what streets are in the area where I’m searching, where I expect the address to fall, and when I’m getting close while I’m browsing census images. Here’s one example I used when I was helping a friend pin down an address.

I used a contemporary map to try to pin down approximately where the address she was looking for would fall and used red lines to highlight the sometimes hard to follow edges of the ED.

In another case, I was helping someone in our Live Look-Up sessions on Livestream (archived versions are here-scroll down past the viewer and click on them) who couldn’t find his great-grandparents’ block enumerated in the ED it was supposed to fall in. I thought I would see if tracing the route he took would help. As it turned, it looks like this enumerator did not complete his appointed route (clearly he wasn’t a mailman in his other job). It looks like several blocks were not completed.

Browsing Images on Ancestry.com

I’m loving the new image viewer and all the things that you can do with it. While I always go through looking for names when I’m browsing (you may find an enumerator who forgot to note when he turned onto a new street), there are times when I want to just browse quickly, looking for a particular street. Instead of getting a neckache trying to read everything sideways, I can rotate the image by clicking on the green Actions button, then selecting Image Controls top open up those options.

Although I’ve been very impressed with the quality of the images, there have been times when I’ve been less than impressed with the handwriting. TheInvert colorsflips the colors so you’re reading white writing on a black background and it’s been helpful in deciphering some words. You can also adjust he contrast with these tools.

Hope this has been helpful and that you’re having as much fun as I am. If you have any questions you’d like me to address here, you can email me at Juliana@Ancestry.com.  

I hope you’ll also join us tomorrow for another Live Look-up session at 1 pm ET here on Livestream. Anne Mitchell and myself will be in the Chat Room helping as many of you as we can, and Crista Cowan, the Barefoot Genealogist, will be sharing some of her favorite tips in the video.

Happy Searching!

Juliana

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 for $40 per month in Houston.  Then according to city directories, in 1949 they are living in Compton California.   When did they move? Why? 

From family stories, I know that Grandma Boone loved to play card games.  She was known as quite a character and ruthless at “Dirty Dog.”  I hope the 1940 Census will tell me about her education.  What grade was she able to complete considering she married at 15? Was she always a stay at home mom or did she work during the depression?  Howard is an equal mystery.  When did they buy the Compton house?  How much did it cost? Will the answers be in the 1940 Census?  I’m not sure if they were in Texas, California, or somewhere else in 1940 but I can’t wait to find out!

Laura Dansbury, Ancestry.com, Director, Product Management 

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 family. When I called my dad to talk, as I had hoped, I learned some new things. You’d think that with two genealogists in the family, we would know everything there is to know about my grandparents. Nope. I had no idea until we talked, that it was his job with a paper company that got him deferred from service in World War II. They made boxes for the military, and they considered it essential to the war effort.  Why did I never think to ask about that?

We were also trying to narrow down when Grandpa stopped working for that paper company so that he and Grandma could start up their own company. Reviewing the records I already had gave us a clue in that my grandmother applied for Social Security in December 1946. She had worked prior to their getting married, but since Social Security wasn’t around back then, she hadn’t applied. Then they started a family and she didn’t work until the formed the company.  New items to add to my family timeline. I love it.

That’s the great thing about the 1940 census. I’ve seen a few people post on blogs and Facebook that they’re waiting until it’s all done and indexed before they dive in and start searching. Not me. That chat with my dad made my day, and now I have some new details to add to our family history.  

Now I can’t wait to find his grandfather. I wonder what memories that record will stir.

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 when a state is “In Process” you can check on the status and see if your county is there. For example, as I write this, we have started on the state of Washington and we have a few counties available to view.  If you see your county, take a look! 

I admit that yesterday I was checking often when they started Virginia to catch Rockbridge County as soon as I could.  And I am impatiently waiting for North Carolina. Patience is not a family trait!

I’ve bookmarked the page, so I can check it quickly.

Happy Searching!

—Ancestry Anne

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 Triplett Careless. And those granddaughters of hers have proved elusive and wily. Based on clues to what their married names could be that I have found on USGenWeb, I hope to score a few big finds that will lead me to living cousins who might know a little more of the family story they would be willing to share with me. Here’s who I am looking for:

• Florence Fisher, b. 1908 in Iowa
• Mable L. Hyde, b. 1920 in Iowa
• Betty Ann Hyde, b. 1924 in Iowa
• Jennie Pearl Parks Parkin, b. Jul 1896 in Iowa

I’ve got my fingers crossed and my cursor on the refresh button at the 1940 Collection page on Ancestry where there is a chart showing the progress for each state (lower left corner).

C’mon Iowa.

Jennifer Utley, Ancestry Employee 15 years