Monthly Archives: February 2012

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Relatively Speaking: The 1940 Census

In only 35 days genealogy geeks everywhere will rejoice in the release of the 1940 Census. It will be the first Federal Census in which my parents make an appearance. When I came up with 12 Genealogy Goals for 2012, goal #3 was to “Find all my relatives in the 1940 census.”  But just how many relatives is that? Until I started gathering notes, I didn’t realize just how much my great-grandparents’ families grew from the time of their immigration between 1900 and 1909 to 1940.  Here is a chart that outlines the, er, relative growth of the families:

The additions in the great-grandparent generation or above were immigrations, and decreases were due to deaths. The additions for the grandparents and below were births. I’m counting my paternal grandmother in the above counts because she was alive, but I’ve yet to actually find her on any census ever. And I’m not double counting the several relatives that were counted more than once in prior censuses!  The spouse category includes all spouses of any generation that are not directly related to me. So, it appears I only have to find 108 relatives. 

The good news is, this is roughly about 32 households.  Of those 32 households, 27 live in the city of Philadelphia which had a 1940 population of “only” 1.93 million.  It appears I have my work cut out for me! 

What am I doing to prepare for the research? Well, other than mapping out the list of individuals that should be alive, I’m trying to determine their 1940 addresses.  Mostly I’m relying on the 1930 addresses, but in some cases I’m using other available documents like death or marriage records if the events took place closer to 1940. I even have my grandfather’s driver’s license from 1940, so I am confident I can find my father at that address with his parents.

After compiling a list of the possible addresses and/or what the 1930 ED (enumeration district) was if I’m using that address, I then head to Steve Morse’s Unified 1940 Census ED Finder. Unfortunately, for a city as large as Philadelphia the result usually yields two or more possible ED numbers based on either the 1930 ED or an actual street address.  To narrow it down even further, I am literally mapping out the address and relying on Steve’s links to the descriptions or maps of the EDs.

While this whole exercise would bore most of my non-genealogy friends to tears, the research has been fun.  Well, not as much fun as converting surnames to Soundex codes back in the day and scrolling through microfilm, but fun. While an index will certainly make research easier, I’m still confident that the ease of using free digitized images will make finding all 108 relatives relatively easy.  And I’m sure I’ll find some surprises once I find these families!

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February: Short on Days, Long on Family Facts

In everyone’s family there seems to be a “birthday season” in which many family events fall in the same month.  In my family, February is not one of those months.  So I was rather surprised as I looked through some of my genealogical data that February had a huge significance in the life of one of my ancestral families, the Bergmeister family.  I’m sure that after you “collect” hundreds of ancestors, there are bound to be a lot of common dates among the data.  But the sheer preponderance of February dates is striking.  I first noticed the coincidence just back in my grandmother’s generation, because both of my great-grandparents and one of their children had February dates.  But the closer attention I paid to the family, the more February events turned up.

To start, we have to go way back – seven generations before my grandmother!  I will call this Generation 0, and the sole February event is the death of Elisabeth Bergmeister, wife of Jakob, on 25 Feb 1725.

In Generation 1, the son of Jakob and Elisabeth, Martin, marries Ursula Pedenpöckh on 16 Feb 1716.

In Generation 2, Martin and Ursula’s son, Johann Paul, was born on 25 Feb 1721.

In Generation 3, J. Paul’s son, Joseph, was also born on 25 Feb in the year 1763, his father’s 42nd birthday.

In Generation 4, Joseph’s son, Jakob, married Anna Maria Daniel.  Anna Maria Bergmeister died on 02 Feb 1871.

In Generation 5, Jakob and Anna Maria had two children born in February.  The first was my great-great grandfather, Joseph, who was born on 09 Feb 1843.  His brother, Castulus, was born on 25 Feb 1845, his grandfather’s birthday (except his grandfather was deceased by then).

In Generation 6, Joseph had a son, also named Joseph (my great-grandfather), who was born on 12 Feb 1873.  Joseph the younger’s wife, Maria Echerer, also had a February birthday – she was born on 27 Feb 1875.  She would also later die in February, on 05 Feb 1919. Joseph’s sister, Hilaurie Bergmeister Thuman, would also die in February on 06 Feb 1943.

In Generation 7, my grandmother’s older sister, Maria, was born on 27 Feb 1898, her mother’s 23rd birthday.

I haven’t looked more closely at the dates I’ve collected for my father’s cousins and their children to see if this trend continues.  The February dates stopped in my immediate family, but I bet I have some cousins celebrating birthdays this month…after all, it’s a family tradition!

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Donna’s Picks, Link Love, and More: Valentine Edition

I hope your Valentine is as cute as this!

Donna’s Picks

“Donna’s Picks” was my occasional weekly feature of noteworthy articles that has now become a monthly roundup.  Here are February’s goodies!

Nun Maintains Polish Ties Through 100 Year Family Correspondence, an article by Susan Klemond in National Catholic Register, is a great story about two families keeping in touch across the miles – and across generations! [February 12]

Twenty-Five Ways to Come Up With Great Ideas for Your Writing by Ali on Aliventures may spark your creativity whether you are writing your family history, trying to come up with blog posts – or if you’re writing some fiction on the side. [February 1]

What’s with the SSDI and the petition? by Pat Richley-Erickson, otherwise known as DearMyrtle, sums up the recently “controversy” over the Social Security Death Index.  [February 12]

The 50 Questions in the 1940 Census – Tuesday’s Tip by Nancy at My Ancestors and Me gives us a glimpse of the types of information we’ll get when the 1940 Census is made available this April. [February 7]

More Than Meets The Eye (Again): A Tuesday’s Tip Follow Up! by Cynthia Shenette at Heritage Zen offers some great advice on reviewing the photos in our collections.  Cynthia says, “if you have a group of photos or materials that seem to be related in some way make sure you view them together and consider the group as a whole” – see her post on the discovery she made doing just that.   [January 31]

Set in Stone? by Bill West at West in New England reminds us not to believe everything we read…even if it’s written in stone! [January 29]

The Birdwatcher’s Guide to Genealogists by Randall Dickerson from Free-Range Organic Genealogy (formerly known as Alabama Genealogy and Ramblings) humorously ponders the question of what species of genealogist we all belong to.  As Randall points out, take note that “Any resemblance between these descriptions and any genealogist, alive or dead, is unintended, a coincidence, and a darn shame.” [January 29]

What’s Past at What’s Past is Prologue ~ What You May Have Missed

One Year Ago:

Two Years Ago:

Three Years Ago:

Four Years Ago:

What’s Prologue at What’s Past is Prologue ~ Coming Up

I had quite a few posts planned for February…but here it is and the month is half over and I haven’t quite gotten to my ideas yet.  I hope to post in the next month about some finds in a new collection at Ancestry.com, the preponderance of February dates in one of my ancestral families, and my preparations for the 1940 Census.

As always, thanks for reading, following, and subscribing!