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One of the biggest resources available that you will use in your research is census records. They can be valuable in tracing not only your direct ancestor, but also extended family. For rookie genealogists out there- most of the 1890 census records were destroyed by fire and/or water in 1921. Some still do exist but are sparse.

Census records are not without flaws, however. One of the biggest cautions of census records is names. Names are notoriously incorrect on census records. In a time when social security was not yet established (pre-1935) and records were not meticulously maintained, people would often flip flop on the spelling of their names- first and last- without anyone caring.

Let’s take a look at reasons for the frustrating name game:

Phonetics: Schools taught using phonetics in the 1880’s. People learned to spell the way they heard the words pronounced. The first dictionary was not published until 1828.
Literacy: Only 65% of the population in the U.S could read in 1790. If people could not read and were giving the enumerator the names of people in their household, they probably could not help them out by spelling the names or places of birth.
One person for all: If an enumerator came to the door and only one person was there, that person would give information on everyone in that household. Relying on one person for the information of many would lead to common mistakes.
Accents: The enumerators would write what they heard and with accents of the many immigrants, mistakes would again be rampant.
Blending in: Often immigrants would purposely change the spelling of their last name to blend into the area in which they lived or to sound more American/English.
Numbers mattered most: The enumerators did not have genealogy in mind when they went door to door taking a census. The most important item was counting the population, not getting the names correct.

Considering the many ways in which names are seriously flawed on census records, it is easy to see why census records can be useful but with proper research and common sense.

Think outside the box

When looking at names on census records remember to think outside the box. What does that mean? Simply put- consider historical context, similarities and everyday lives of your ancestors. There was a period of time when ‘Polly’ was a nickname for ‘Mary’. That may not seem obvious to us in 2019 but in a point in history this may have been normal practice.

Similarities may include variations on names. A prime example is my 3rd great grandmother. I have seen her name as Carissa, Theresa, Teresa, Tracey and Tereza. Looking at these names you can see the similarity between all of them. When entering her information into my database I used the name she seemed to be referred by the most, Teresa. See the examples below of the different uses of her name (Yes, all records reflect the the same person).

My 3rd great grandmother’s name on the 1880 census as Carrissa

My 3rd great grandmother’s name on her marriage certificate as ‘Teresa’

My 3rd great grandmother’s obituary listed as ‘Tracey’

If one relative answered the questions of the enumerator and they only ever called their father by their middle name then that is most likely what they stated and not the formal first name of the father. Rigidity in your research can be your downfall. When it comes to census records, rigidity was certainly something they did not adhere to.

Another example of considering the historical context is a consideration for your family wanting to fit into America. I have a lot of Polish roots on my mother’s side of the family. For the most part they kept their full Polish last names. However, I do have one line in which the name was changed.

My 3rd great grandmother’s maiden name was Bohacz. She was born in Poland in 1826. She married her husband, Joseph Spychalski, and they immigrated to the United States. I always wondered why they came to small train stop town in rural Indiana. Believing that they had family there first, I looked for Bohacz in the area and could not find much at first. I then found marriage records for the church in this tiny town. There I found a record for a Frank Bohacz. However, that was all I could find. I decided to search the census records within that township and the surrounding townships. I finally found a possible match that corresponded with the church marriage record. The interesting part? He changed his name to Frank Bohart. Shortly after coming here he changed his name to be more American or perhaps, so that others could pronounce it.

Frank’s death certificate where her uses ‘Bohart’ instead of ‘Bohacz’ it also says ‘Bohart’ on his headstone

This church record lists Frank’s daughter getting married and has him and his daughter with the ‘Bohacz’ last name

Census records are one of the best resources out there if you think outside the box and realize that there is a gray area when dealing with censuses. It was a tedious job and very time consuming job for enumerators in an age without computers. Human error was bound to happen…and quite often.

Think like an immigrant, think like an illiterate, think like an exhausted enumerator.

Surviving spouse was completely wrong on this death certificate

Making assumptions about your relatives based on limited information can actually hurt your genealogical research. If you have completed even a fraction of research you may have already noticed confusion, errors, or even lies.

Proper research is based on gaining several pieces of information to verify your findings. The following are cautions you should be aware of during the course of your research in order to gain the most truthful information.

1. Basing information on only a name

Have you realized families loved to use the same names generation after generation? This can cause confusion when trying to decipher who is who. Match birth, marriage, or death dates to confirm your findings. I have a relative, Solomon Higgins. He married Elizabeth Higgins. Yes, Higgins as well. They were 1st cousins. So the confusion became two fold. First, her last name was the same as Solomon’s. Secondly, Elizabeth’s cousin had a wife named Elizabeth Higgins as well AND they were the same age. Therefore, I had to constantly check the birth dates to make sure I had the correct Elizabeth Higgins. Making assumptions that there was only one Elizabeth Higgins that age in the county of my relatives would have made my information incorrect.

Two Elizabeth Higgins the same age. Since the first one listed married her cousin she stayed a Higgins after marrying shortly after this census.

2. Assuming your relatives stayed in one place

Yes, often families of immigrants stayed together in once place. However, do not dismiss the idea that a relative that matches name and birth 1,000 miles away from the rest of the family is not related. In doing my research often times it appears relatives moved to gain employment or acquire land.

3. Assuming records are 100% correct

I know. You want to take that death certificate and treat it like gold. You want to take it all as fact and enter it into your database and be done. Wrong! Use it as a tool and compare it to other sources you gather. In the picture at the top of this blog is a death certificate of my great great grandmother. It lists her surviving spouse as “John Meyer”. The death certificate is wrong. First, her husband died before her and therefore, was not ‘surviving’. Secondly, his name was Andrew Meyer. Now, maybe his middle name was John but I have yet to discover if that is the case. All other documents including marriage certificate and obituaries all confirm his name was Andrew and he died before her. Death certificate information is given by informants- someone close to the recently deceased. That person may not always know the facts.

Base facts on more than one document. Census records are notorious for errors. Information gathered for census records were taken at the word of whomever answered the door and written down as the census taker heard it. I have even found a relative that was listed in two different households in the same census year. Her mother listed her but she was living with her aunt and uncle so she was also listed as living with them. It happens and should be noted in your research.

My ‘Spychalski’ family listed on a census as ‘Spegalski’– don’t be rigid in your research…think outside the box with name variations.

4. Taking certain websites as fact

When looking at websites research how their information is gathered. Findagrave.com can be a great tool if used as just that—a tool. Anyone can make an account and add information or pictures. I added headstone pictures yesterday for my family after signing up for a free account. I also had to send a correction request because I noticed someone else had listed my grandmother as having passed away in Indiana. She is buried in Indiana but passed away in Colorado. Being her granddaughter, I knew this as fact.

Investigate how information is collected for certain websites. Again, until you have a compilation of documents, treat information only as possibilities.

5. Assuming your relatives are law abiding, ethical people

This assumption has come up in my family. I had the documents, the research. However, I had some relatives who thought I was way off base. They simply assumed it wouldn’t happen. Too crazy for our family.

Through years of research I discovered my great great grandfather left his wife (my great great grandmother) with 9 children. She moved her single sister in with her to help her and sent two of her children to live with other relatives. My great great grandfather lives with a woman and a child that was born about the time they separated. He then moves with that child out to Oregon and dies out there. He never lived with my great great grandmother again. This other woman also, according to family legend, ran a brothel in Chicago. It is a long complicated story but needless to say, my great great grandfather abandoned his family and all his kids except the one he had with this other woman. He never officially divorced my great great grandmother.

My great great grandfather who left his wife with 9 kids pictured here with his son from his mistress.

You may, at some point, discover unsavory things about your family. Denying it will not change it. If all the facts are there after exhaustive research then accept it and move on.

6. Using others research as fact without doing your own investigation

The last assumption I will discuss is a big one. Never ever assume someone else’s research is fact. You may see someone else’s family tree on Ancestry.com or another site and believe their research to be firm. This is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I have come across false information on someone else’s tree. They may have the wrong relative entered in their database. I once came across someone who had a supposed relative entered in who wasn’t even born before their own children. It is common sense that if you were born in 1860 and your supposed children were born in the 1840’s that something is way off.

I have heard of some people believing that just because you get the little leaf hint next to a relative on Ancestry.com that it must be true to their relative. No. Just no. Do your own research, check facts, follow your gut and in the end your research will pay off.