The final three searchable censuses now available

The 1920, 1930 and 1940 censuses are the last censuses that we have access to at this time. However, the 1950 census is scheduled to be released in 2022.

The 1920 census includes the following information: residence, name of each resident, relationship of each resident to the head of household, gender, race/color, age at last birthday, marital status, age at first marriage, home owned or rented and its value or monthly rent, if it is it a farm or not, attended school in the previous year, able to read or write, person’s birthplace and parent’s nativity, native language, citizenship status, year of immigration, speaks English, profession and employment.

The 1930 census is very similar and includes residence, name of each resident, relationship of each resident to the head of household, gender, race/color, age at last birthday, marital status, age at first marriage, home owned or rented and its value or monthly rent, if is it a farm or not, attended school in the previous year, able to read or write, person’s birthplace and parent’s nativity, native language, citizenship status, year of immigration, speaks English, profession and employment. Additional information asked included whether the family owned a radio and, if there was a veteran in the household, what war he or she served in.

There were several changes in the 1940 census including dropping the place of parents’ birth for most entries, the radio query and adding a question about the highest grade of school completed. They also asked the residence of each person in 1935. A special section at the bottom of the form asks more questions about two random people previously enumerated on the same page. These questions include the birth place of parents, their mother tongue, if the person was a veteran or the wife/widow or underage child of a veteran, the war in which the veteran fought, did the person have a social security card and were deductions taken from their paychecks for social security insurance and their occupation. They also asked women selected for this section if they had been married more than once, their age at first marriage and how many children they had given birth to. The person who answered the census taker’s questions is also indicated. All other queries are the same as the 1930 census or very similar.

The censuses are valuable tools in the search for ancestors and their travels and descendants. Each census is unique in the snapshots they give us of the people and times they enumerate.

*** “Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves.” ― Abraham Lincoln