Adventures in Indexing: Unusual Names

Today in my indexing adventure, the thing that stood out most was unusual names. 

As I was indexing rural Florida, and I live in rural Florida, I was not terribly surprised at the names, but all the same they are unusual, especially for city folk, more especially for those not living in the rural south.

Unusual women's names outstripped unusual men's names. 

Here are today's unusual women's names:  Charles (yup, that's what it said); Nondas; Milbra (though I wonder if that were a mishearing of "Melba")' Ovella; Avie; Selzma; Trellie; Delamier.

Unusual men's names:  Grose (can you imagine the teasing of a boy had that name today?); Dorthan; Verda.

I checked my stats, and so far the arbitrators are 98% in agreement with me.  My paleography training is showing.

Adventures in Indexing

I decided, as I am having difficulties finding family members in the 1940 census, that I would while away the time between now and the debut of the indexes I may be needing, to contribute to the hastening of that day by doing some indexing myself.

So I went to the indexing site, read the information, watched the tutorial videos, and downloaded the software, and got started. My practice download consisted in a draft record for a fellow in Puerto Rico. I see that there are records in Spanish waiting to be indexed, so when the 1940 census is done, I might take on some of those.

Some of the things I have found in my brief bout of indexing today:

In that Puerto Rican sample, mentioned above, though it was not in the 1940 census, there was something I was happy to be able to remedy.  Either the fellow who filled in the form was in the habit of making his lower-case r's look like lower-case t's, or he just did not know how to spell the place name.  Knowing a little about Puerto Rico and a lot about Spanish, I was able to correct it (which the instructions said to do if you have certain knowledge).

A family consisting in a Pennsylvania German and a Mexican, and their daughter. The surname of the daughter was entered and then crossed out, as it was different from that of the parents, yet she was young and single. And her name had been written as "Carlos." Very clearly, it said "Carlos." That's a little strange, but after all, I have already mentioned females named Clifford and Russell in this blog.

There was another family which made me feel kind of sad, because they were Japanese in California in 1940, and I knew where they would soon be headed -- the internment camps. The youngest daughter was only 3. I have heard George Takei -- yes, that George Takei -- talk about his own family being interned when he was something like five years old. Not a pretty chapter in our history.

I did not come up on any really humorous entries -- odd names and that (except for the daughter named Carlos).  However, having names mis-sexed is not uncommon.  My father-in-law's name was Marshall.  In one census when he was a youngster, his name is entered as Marsha.  And I have seen in the 1920 census the entry for an "Ella" Ness, daughter, in the family of Peter Ness of Chicago, a baker.  There was no "Ella" Ness -- the entry is a mistake, and the relationship should be son, and the name should be ELIOT Ness -- the famous Prohibition agent who busted up Al Capone's breweries and facilitated the IRS tax case against Capone.

But I'll be indexing more, and will surely find some more oddities.
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At long last! First find in the 1940 census!

I am finally no longer singing the blues. I have found my grandmother and aunt (though there is a story behind that; for now, we will leave it as is) in Pensacola, Florida. My grandmother, widowed, was living in a rented house. My aunt's occupation was listed as "graduate nurse." This signifies that she had finished her nurse's training. I'm not sure it was exactly this way in 1940, but when I was a nurse, we were called "graduate nurse" until we successfully completed the state board exams, then we received our certification as Registered Nurse. Later in the 1940s, Elizabeth would attend Columbia University and receive a B.S. in public health nursing. She was unmarried, and in fact, never married.

The monthly rent on the house was $65. My grandmother, Mary LeSourd Reed, was 50 years old and was the informant for this census, and my aunt, Elizabeth Reed, was 30. Mary Reed is shown as having completed the 11th grade, and she did tell me that she quit high school in her senior year to marry Perry W. Reed, her late husband. Elizabeth Reed is shown as having finished her third year of college. Mary was born in Indiana, and Elizabeth in Illinois. These birthplaces are corroborated in other records I have.

On 1 April 1935 they were living in the same place. Mary did not work; Elizabeth had a job, working for the "health board." It does not say whether that was the county health board or the State Board of Health. I know that at different times, she worked for each one, as she has told me tales of her time at the county health board, and in my living memory, she was employed at the State Board of Health (now the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services). I believe that in 1940 she was working for the local or county (Escambia County, Florida) health board, because the State Board of Health was (and the DHR is) headquartered in Jacksonville.

Elizabeth Reed had worked the entirety of 1939, making $1800. That is probably her yearly salary. She had no other source of income.

So there it is: my "first fruits" of the 1940 census.
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More from Ancestry on the 1940 Census

Ancestry.com is scheduled to have all 3.8 million census pages online by tomorrow at about 2 p.m. -- "maybe sooner."  More places having the images available should mean a wider distribution of server load, which might help alleviate the access problems people have been having just because of the massive reception the census has had!

As well, tomorrow, Ancestry.com will be launching additional tools to help in 1940 census research.  Their take on it:  "This is HUGE."  The whole 1940 census has been huge, from the sheer mass of the number of images to the frenzy for access to the fodder for us bloggers, to the topic having trended strongly on Twitter, to the effect it is having on people's research, advancing knowledge just that much more.  It is exciting.

Don't forget that Ancestry.com has demo videos on YouTube.  The link takes you to the playlist, where you can choose which one(s) you want to watch.

Indexing progresses, having begun on Monday when the images went live.  Stay tuned for news of which states have been indexed as the work continues.
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Those 1940 Census Blues

Been sittin' at my laptop
Looking in the ED maps,
But I ain't got no address
For my mammy and my paps.
Feelin' low down,
As low as my shoes,
I'm singin' those low down
1940 census blues.

I got 'em both in 1930
But they went from town to town,
They rented, never owned a house
Never settled down.
Feelin' low down,
Right down to my shoes,
Singin' those low down
1940 census blues.

Can't find my in-laws, either
Tho' I know just where they were
'Cause the house at that old number
Ain't listed anywhere.
Feelin' low down
As low as my shoes,
I keep on singin' those
1940 census blues.

My grandmaw done remarried
I even know the name
But again I got no address,
Oh, ain't it all a shame?
Feelin' so low down,
Lower than my shoes,
I search and keep on singin'
Those 1940 census blues!

So it's back to those direc'tries
Of cities far and wide,
Searchin' and a-searchin'
The US from side to side.
Feelin' so low down,
I'm shuckin' off my shoes
Goin' to bed just singin' those old
1940 census blues!

1940 Enumeration District Maps: From the Known to the Unknown

Yesterday I tested the 1940 census Enumeration District maps on addresses that I knew - that of my aunt and uncle in Glendale, California, which I suspect will reveal a clue as to where my father and mother were in the 1940 census, and of the home of my father-in-law's parents in Jacksonville, Florida.

Remembering well the layout of the street on which my aunt and uncle lived, as well as the street on which they owned another home which they rented out, I was able to find the Glendale district map in no time.

Jacksonville has been a much harder nut to crack.  As I said in yesterday's blog entry, the map for the district in which my father-in-law's family lived was not there.  I found, in Dear Myrtle's blog, another way to approach the ED maps, through the Online Public Access. What I found there was even more frustrating, because I was made to feel like King Tantalus, the desired goal being just out of reach.

What happened is that the access to the ED maps for Jacksonville revealed that there are more maps than are showing.  In fact, there are, under each of the three divisions mentioned in yesterday's entry, multiple maps.  Under Jacksonville itself, there are six maps, but I could get only one to show up.  I would select for "Jacksonville," and very briefly I saw six selections flash by.  The browser did not stop on the six selections, but jumped immediately to displaying the first one.  No matter how may times I clicked on the next page button, I could not get the view to budge off that first map, the same one I saw last night.

I do not know whether that was a glitch caused by too many hits on the website or what.  I guess I'll have to try again.  Or perhaps the National Archives need to put up instructions for the feebly inept, such as myself.

However, that is my adventure with the known.

Today I had a little adventure with the unknown.  It is a bit easier to use the ED maps if you have in your own head a clear map of the area from having lived there or visited there.  Much harder is it, says Yoda, if you have no familiarity with the area.  Just for a test, I picked Chicago.  I found someone, their identity is not relevant, in the 1930 census and noted the address of their dwelling.  I then went to the Chicago ED maps, and had the same experience I had with Jacksonville:  I could not access more than the first one.  There were more,  I just could not get at them.

Also, when I did look at the one map of Chicago I could get, there were no street names on a large portion of it.  A study of a marked street map, preferably one from 1940, would in this case be necessary.

So for me, there is a lot of work involved in using the ED maps.

I could just take the easy way out and wait until the index is done.  But I will at least search in Glendale, for which the ED map has been quite helpful, to see if my mother and father were there in 1940.
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1940 Enumeration District Maps: Something found, something missing

We Ancestry Aces have been asked to take an advanced peek at the Enumeration District maps and play around with them.  The ED maps are running hot and cold for me.

I noted in my last post, the Saturday Night Genealogy Fun post about guessing my ancestor's 1940 census data, that I have no real clue where my parents were in 1940.  I looked at my father's U.S. Navy service record, and there is some indication, by no means conclusive, that they may have been in California, and I suspect that I might find them with his brother Jack in Glendale.

I called up the ED map for Glendale, California, and was right in their neighborhood.  It took me no time at all, remembering what I could of the layout of the streets when I visited Uncle Jack and Aunt Billie in 1962, to find their street and their house's location.  They are in the Sonora Precinct.  There is no ED number, as such, on the map, but at least knowing the precinct may help.  I know that my aunt and uncle at one time owned another house on a nearby street, which I also easily found,  though whether they owned it in 1940, I do not know.  So I do have a place to at least check in the census on Monday for the whereabouts of my parents in 1940.

I also thought I would try to find my husband's father's family.  He had not married my mother-in-law at that time; that didn't happen until 1944.  But in 1940, my (future) father-in-law lived with his parents, and I know exactly where it is from family records my husband and I have, and from actually visiting the house as a young girl, when my then-future husband and I were friends (and, yes, we still are, after 41 years of marriage).

However, when I went to the map for Jacksonville, Florida, I was disappointed.  The only map that shows for Jacksonville itself (as the city limits were in those days) is the north side.  My husband's parents lived on the south side, which, until the 1930s, was the separate town of South Jacksonville.  But that part is not there at all.  There is another link under Duval County, the county where Jacksonville sits, which says "other places."  Those other places are only those to the northwest of Jacksonville (as the city limits were in those days).  Strike two.

The third link under Duval County shows what is today known as the Riverside area, to the west, across the St. Johns River, from the south side.  Strike three.  The area where my future father-in-law and his parents and sister lived is just not included in the maps.  I cannot imagine why.  There is no link marked "South Jacksonville," either.  It just ain't there.

Do the maps for the south side of Jacksonville just not exist?  At least I thought I would see the St. Johns river, but on the first two maps, Jacksonville and "other places," it does not show up, because the maps are too far north.  The third map, of Riverside, shows the river and one tiny corner of Southside, called "Hendricks Point," which is where the Acosta Bridge and the railroad bridge next to it span the river.  Duval County was not much different than it is today, as far as its boundaries are concerned, and certainly included Southside, or South Jacksonville, at the time.

Or is it that the map I require has not been uploaded yet?   Let me hold out hope that such is the case, and that I will find the Southside, or South Jacksonville (some old-timers still call it that) when the time comes for me to search for my father-in-law in the census.

Oh, well.  I'm 50% so far, anyway.
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Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Guess Your Ancestor's 1940 Census Data

This is a fool's errand in my case, but I'll play!  Live, from Randy Seaver's Genea-musings, it's Saturday Night! 

"Your mission, should you decide to accept it (come on, you know that you want to!), is to:

1)  Pick one of the persons from your ancestry who should be in the 1940 United States Census.

2)  Using the column headings below (from 1940 United States Census Questions), predict what the entries will be in each column.

3)  Share your predictions on your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook status or a Google Plus post."

  I'm going to take my chances with my father, Arden Packard (no middle name).  I actually have no idea where he and my mother were in 1940, but I will take a stab at it.  My predicted column entries are in red:

*  State:  California or Florida
*  Populated Place: Could be Pensacola, Jacksonville, or Miami, Florida or Los Angeles (least likely), Glendale, or Pasadena, California.
*  Ward of City:  No clue
*  County:  Either Escambia, Duval, or Dade counties, Florida, or Los Angeles County, California.
*  Township or other division of county:  I do not know.
*  Block Nos.:  I do not know
*  Enumeration District:  I do not know, and have no basis on which to hazard a guess.

1.  Location - street, avenue or road:  I do not know
2.  Location - house number:  I do not know

3.  Number of household:  I do not know
4.  Home owned or rented:  Rented.  They never owned a house the whole time they were married.
5.  Value of home (if owned) or monthly rental (if rented):  $60-80/mo, and that is strictly a guess!
6.  Does this household live on a farm?  No
7.  Name of person:  Arden Packard
8.  Relationship of this person to head of household:  Head of household

9.  Sex:  Male
10.  Color or Race:  White
11.  Age at last birthday:  28 (birth date 29 April 1911)
12.  Marital Status:  Married

13.  Attended school or college any time since March 1, 1940:  No
14.  Highest grade of school completed:  college graduate

15.  Place of birth:  California
16.  Citizenship of foreign born: N/A

17.  Residence on 1 April, 1935 - City or town:  possibly Norfolk, VA (stationed on an aircraft carrier out of Norfolk)
18.  Residence on 1 April, 1935 - County: N/A (Norfolk is an independent city)
19.  Residence on 1 April, 1935 - State or foreign country: Virginia
20.  On a farm?  No

21.  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): Yes
22:  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): No
23. If neither at work nor assigned to public emergency work. ("No" in Cols. 21 and 22), Was this person SEEKING WORK (Yes or No):  No
24. If not seeking work, did he HAVE A JOB, business, etc.? (Yes or No):  Yes
25. Indicate whether engaged in home house-work (H), in school (S), unable to work (U), or other (Ot): N/A
26. Number of hours worked during week of March 24-30, 1940: 40
27. 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:  0

28.  Occupation: Trade, profession, or particular kind of work, as frame spinner, salesman, rivet heater ,music teacher:  engineer
29. Industry: Industry or business, as cotton mill, retail grocery, farm, shipyard, public school: I have no idea
30. Class of worker: skilled [?]
31. Number of weeks worked in 1939 (Equivalent full-time weeks): I have no idea

32.  Income in 1939 (12 months ended December 31, 1939): Amount of money wages or salary received (including commissions):  $8,000-10,000 [and boy, is THAT a guess!]
33. Did this person receive income of $50 or more from sources other than money wages or salary (Yes or No): No
34.  Number of farm schedule: N/A


Well, there it is.  Pure guesswork.  It will be interesting, once I do find out where they were, how well -- or poorly! -- my guesses line up with the facts.
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1940 Census: Getting Ready

Ancestry.com has provided us, the Ancestry.com 1940 Census Aces, with some information about Monday's release of the 1940 census images:

The National Archives and Records Administration will open the 1940 U.S. Federal Census on April 2, 2012—the first time this collection will be made available to the public. Once we receive the census, we will begin uploading census images to our site so the public can browse them. Initially, this collection will be what we call a browse-only collection. This means a person can scroll through the pages of the census districts much like you would look at a microfilm or a book. At the same time, we will be working behind the scenes to create an index of the census that will eventually allow people to search for their family members by name as they currently can with all other censuses on Ancestry.com. Note also that the 1940 U.S. Federal Census will be accessible free of charge throughout 2012 on Ancestry.com.

As to how long it will take to get all the states online, this is going to be a rather massive project.  As Ancestry.com puts it:  "We like to use this analogy: think about how long it takes to upload all of the images on a memory card onto a home computer. Now imagine that memory card holds 3.8 million, very-high-definition images. You get the picture."

Sure, it will take some time.  And during the upload process, they will be working on the index, too.  I will be one of the ones waiting for the index to come out, because I do not have the slightest clue where to look for my parents.  I have other things to keep me busy in the meantime, including (and chiefly) getting ready to graduate from college.

So get ready!  The 1940 census is coming!

Now I think I'll go play with some ED maps, because I know where my grandparents were!
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