A Pre-1940 Census Mystery

May 31, 2012

Knowing that the 1940 census was being released without indexing, I despaired that there was no way I was going to be able to find my mother’s family on the census until later this year when it gets indexed. My grandparents lost their farm during the depression and moved frequently after that. One of the ways to find your 1940 ancestors is to locate them on the 1930 census. At http://stevemorse.org/census/unified.html, you can find the 1940 enumeration district (ED) number if you know the 1930 ED number. Then, it is just a matter of searching page by page in the 1940 census, but just within that ED number. But, alas, where were my grandparents? They surely weren’t in the same location that they were in 1930.

A breakthrough came when using the Family Search website. New content is being added constantly, including 1940 census updates. I searched for my grandfather’s name, Homer Harvey. Voila! I found his "old man" World War II draft registration card. There he states, in 1942, that his address was 432 Allen Road, Paris Township, Michigan. Now that I can narrow down to a township, my search will be easier. Thank you Family Search!

Janice S.
Midwest Genealogy Center