Common sense and census indexes

I'm a firm believer in using all available censuses and the data they contain. But there's also a good reason to use common sense.

Minnesota is home to many different ethnic groups, and has been for centuries. However, if you are researching in Minnesota, be aware that the Ancestry.com indexes were not done by people who knew about Minnesota ethnicity. For example, the letter "I" used for 'Indian' as a race indicator looks a little like "J." Under instructions to use full words for the index, the transcriber reported the race to be 'Japanese' for some people were really Dakota Indians. In another, the letter "H" for 'half-breed' was expanded to Hindu for many entries for both Ojibwe and Dakota Indians. In the first case, it was a mis-read of one letter; in the second list, it was choosing the wrong term. Both kinds of errors can mess you up if you don't use a little common sense and look beyond the index.

Of course, it's always worthwhile to look at the original source, but especially if you aren't having luck with the index. If people working with hundreds of entries can make errors like these, what did they do to your ancestor's name or to the remainder of the information they indexed?

Using the Minnesota State Census Indexes

One of my current projects involves gathering information about the widows and children who fled from the Dakota Indians during the 1862 war. I've been curious about how they rebuilt their lives -- did they return to the Minnesota River valley? if not, where did they go? how did they support themselves? and so on. Because some of the widows remarried quickly, this can be slow going. But it was curious that, while I could find families in the 1857, 1860, and 1870 censuses, I could not find them in the 1865. Why would that family 'disappear' for that census, when there is other evidence the family group remained in Minnesota?

As I gain more experience with the Minnesota State Census Indexes (both at Ancestry.com and on the Minnesota Historical Society website), I'm learning that effective use may involve more than the usual options. To understand why some different techniques are needed, it was useful to me to discover how the index was constructed. The indexes for all the State Censuses at Ancestry.com were outsourced and created in a very short period of time, from microfilm copies of the census records. MHS's search works a little differently, but is based on the same index database. Fortunately, MHS can make corrections more easily than Ancestry.com, and updates to some records have already taken place. There remain other problems, including those resulting from illegible microfilm and unfamiliarity with our ethnic surnames.

One of the larger unresolved problems exists with the 1865 Index, where many records were entered into the index database with no surname at all. If the census taker wrote the family surname for the head of household and only assumed but didn't enter that surname for the rest of the family, the database index has only the given name. Therefore, just entering the surname with a given name for the spouse and children will result in no record found.

For example, let's say the family includes John Doe (head), wife Mary, and children James and Ellen. Searching for Mary Doe on the index will not find her or the children with John. To find her, the search should be based on her given name, the specific census and the most specific location you know. For sure, include the county, and if at all possible the name of the township or village where the family lived. You may be able to find the specific location from the U.S. census for 1860 and 1870. Your result will come back with a blank surname, but you'll have the opportunity to match up each potential match with the right family.

It's unclear when, if ever, this problem will be completely resolved. Don't give up! When you find one of these in your family, you can make a WOTR (Write On The Record) entry to add the surname, which will eventually make it into the MHS index (see my research notes at ).

Good luck in all your searches.

Using the MHS Territorial/State Census Index

As usual with on-line indexes, some creativity will help you be successful as you use the Minnesota Historical Society's new index for the Minnesota Territorial and State Censuses.

First, like their birth and death indexes, it has some very helpful options in searching both surnames and given names in the pull down menu. These are in addition to 'exact,' which is a letter-for-letter match:

• 'contains' allows you to enter a sequence of letters that you are confident will be in the name, when a person may have a nickname or two versions of the name. For example, if Elizabeth was sometimes known as Liza, you could use "contains Liza" and get hits for Elizabeth and Eliza in addition to Liza. Or if the family sometimes was O'Leary and other times just Leary, entering 'contains Leary' will get you both possibilities. (This option is particularly useful for the death record index, where some names are entered with Mrs., Dr., Prof., etc.)
  
• 'starts with' allows you to enter the beginning sequence, or just one letter. For example, you only have initials from your other sources. You can enter just one letter, the county, and the year, and get a list of possibilities. Or the name is one that is sometimes translated and sometimes not -- Lorenz, Lawrence, for example.
  
• 'ends with' allows you to enter the ending sequence.

Second, don't assume that all the abbreviations for a given name are tied to the full spelling. You may get additional results if you use 'Wm' along with 'William' and 'Chas' along with 'Charles.'

Finally, continue to carefully analyze your results. Some of the censuses included in the index were taken before Minnesota became a state, and a place of birth may be listed as 'MT.' This is very common on the 1857 census, and stands for 'Minnesota Territory,' and NOT the state of Montana. And don't forget, county borders changed considerably between the 1849 census and the 1905 version.

There is some great information only available in the state census, like the residency questions in the latter versions -- "How long have you lived in the state? in the enumeration district?" can help answer those questions about your family's migration. It's a great tool!

Mary