Thrifty Thursday: Michigan Collections on FamilySearch

Are you just getting started with your family research?  Not really sure if you are ready to be a "full time" researcher, no mater how easy those fun Ancestry.com Christmas tv commercials make it look?  Worried that if you sign up for one of the many WONDERFUL genealogy websites, you might not have enough time to devote to actual research to make up for the cost of your membership?  Then this blog post is for you.

Today's Thrifty Thursday tip is .... Don't overlook the the state collections at FamilySearch.org.  I have found so many helpful documents in the Michigan collections, that I would be remiss in sharing this valuable information with my many readers..

IMAGE: This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons.
Information from its description page there is shown Below.

As of November 27, 2012, FamilySearch offers eleven different Michigan collections available for FREE online, of which six collections include the digital images.

Michigan, Births and Christenings, 1775-1995	1,612,291	10 Mar 2012
Michigan, Births, 1867-1902 (with images)	1,409,988	3 Jun 2011
Michigan, County Marriages, 1820-1935 (with images)	371,310	4 Jan 2012
Michigan, Death Index, 1971-1996	2,052,472	17 Dec 2011
Michigan, Deaths and Burials, 1800-1995	1,372,536	5 Oct 2012
Michigan, Deaths, 1867-1897 (with images)	507,342	5 May 2010
Michigan, Detroit Manifests of Arrivals at the Port of Detroit, 1906-1954 (with images)	845,964	27 Nov 2012
Michigan, Marriages, 1822-1995	1,908,148	5 Mar 2012
Michigan, Marriages, 1868-1925 (with images)	1,533,863	5 May 2010
Michigan, Probate Records, 1797-1973 (with images)	Browse Images	28 Jun 2012
Michigan, State Census, 1894	92,831	8 Jul 2011

And don't forget to check out the FREE 1940 Census - Michigan on FamilySearch, complete with images.

Thanks to volunteer indexers, new collections and indexes are being added regularly. Remember that many hands make light work, so if you would like to help index Michigan records, please go to https://familysearch.org/volunteer/indexing and sign up TODAY!

Current Michigan Indexing Projects:

• US, Michigan—County Deaths, 1921-1952 [Part B]
  
• US, Michigan—County Deaths, 1921–1952
  
• US, Michigan—WWI Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918 [Part 3A]
  
• US, Michigan—WWI Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918 [Part 3B]
  

Be sure to stop by FamilySearch today, and see what hidden gems are available for you too.

Love & Aloha,
CuznAmy

1940 US Census - Who I am looking for ...



Photo courtesy the NARA website.

I have been busy the last week getting ready for the release of the 1940 US Census.  Here is the list of direct ancestors that I plan to look for starting April 2, 2012.

Lucky for me, the majority of my family was living in Harbor Beach, Huron, Michigan ... a small city with a population of just under 2200 within the city limits in 1940.

My maternal grandparents, Fred Aaron Arntz and Elsie Marie (Roberts) Arntz were married with one child and I believe living on Bartlett Street in Harbor Beach.  Living nearby Fred and Elsie were Fred's parents, William Edward Arntz (1882-1943) and Betsy Lurene (French) Arntz (1882-1948), as well as Elsie's parents Alfred C Roberts (1881-1946) and Mabel Ellen (Ogle) Roberts (1884-1958).

My paternal grandparents, Emerson Harley Wood and Ruth M (Volz) Wood were married with one child and I believe living on First or Second Avenue in Harbor Beach.  Living nearby Emerson and Ruth were Em's parents Robert Harold Wood (1893-1961) and Lottie Belle (Minard) Wood (1893-1977). 

Ruth's family came from the Village of Minden, in Sanilac County, Michigan ... which was an even smaller community.  Ruth's parents were William Charles Volz (1881-1966) and Jennie Violet (Clark) Volz (1886-1948).  The Volz family still runs a dairy farm just outside of Minden, and at one time I believe the owned the IGA grocery store in town.

But I think the most fun relatives to search for will be my two oldest living family members.  I had two great great grandmothers still living on April 1, 1940, Elizabeth (Binder) Volz who was born in 1853 and Caroline Elizabeth (Sterling) Wood who was born in 1868.

And of course I can't forget to look for my "bonus" (aka step) grandfather, B. Blake Soule (1915-1995).  Blake and Elsie were married in 1973, and I was fortunate to spend time at their home in Ubly during several summer vacation trips to Michigan when I was young.  In 1940 Blake was married to Olive Pearl Stoken and living somewhere in either Sanilac or Huron county.  I don't believe I ever met her or her children but I know they had a couple children, so this part of their story will be new to me.  :) B. Blake Soule was a retired Huron County Magistrate and I remember he liked to listen to the police scanner.  I thought that was really cool. :)

If you are interested in finding out how to access the 1940 US Census for your family, be sure to visit Stephen Morse's One Step website at http://stevemorse.org/census/quiz.php.  Don't let the word "quiz" confuse you, the website functions more like a tutorial helping you narrow down which "tool" to use to find the enumeration district your family is likely to be found in.

If you are researching Harbor Beach, Huron, Michigan you will want to start from this One Step page ... http://bit.ly/HyXIyG

If you are researching in the Village of Minden City, Sanilac, Michigan you can start from this One Step page ... http://bit.ly/H4EXX0

I can't believe we are down to three days. :)  I'm ready, are you???

Love & Aloha,
~Cuzn Amy

Murray City, Utah Prepares For The 1940 US Census

The Census is coming!! The Census is coming!! Only 26 days left before the 1940 US Census images are released to the public for viewing.  Are you ready??



Photo:  Process 1940, US Census Bureau



I don’t know much about the 1940s except what I learned in school, which was mostly centered on the effects of the Great Depression and World War II.  Neither of my parents was born before the 1940s census, but their parents were.  Emerson and Ruth (Volz) Wood and Fred and Elsie (Roberts) Arntz were newly married and raising their young families in Harbor Beach, Michigan in the 1940s.  Neither of my grandfathers served in World War II, and we never really talked about the effects of the Great Depression on them personally in much detail.  Since they have all passed away, I am hoping that the 1940 US Census will give me a better snapshot of their earlier lives that I no longer can ask them about. 



http://media.nara.gov/census-1940/A3378/MI/m-a3378-00029-00518.jpg

I have been enumerated in five censuses myself.  Though I don’t remember much about them, I do know there was a lot of hoopla surrounding each event, to get everyone educated and excited to participate in the process.  So I decided to do some research on my own in my local newspapers, to see how they presented the 1940s census to the population.  I wish Michigan newspapers were available online, but so far I've had very little luck finding a good FREE resource, so for this article I've used the GREAT collection of Utah newspapers gathered by the University of Utah (Go Utes!!)

The University of Utah has an amazing collection of digitized newspapers, holding over 1,000,000 pages of historic Utah newspapers.  The Utah Digital Newspapers (UDN) collection can be found at http://digitalnewspapers.org/. There are 12 newspapers at the Utah Digital Newspapers Collection that cover the 1940s: Park Record, Vernal Express, Davis County Clipper, Manti Messenger, Times Independent, Eureka Reporter, Morgan County News, Garfield County News, San Juan Record, Piute County News, Murray Eagle, and the Kane County Standard.  There are also eight newspapers that carry editions from various dates in the 1940s, such as: Rich County News, Richfield Reaper, Roosevelt Standard, Millard County Chronicle, Parowan Times, Iron County Record, Topaz Times and the Tooele County Chronicle.

My husband's family have been long time residents of Murray City, Utah.  The Murray Eagle images covers the time period 1927 to 1960.  If you have ancestors who were living in Murray City during this time period, this is a wonderful FREE resource of local history. 

In an effort to get the local populace ready for the 1940s census enumerators, the Murray Eagle ran several articles about various aspects of the census including a historical piece, editorial commentary about various questions, and instructions on how to prepare in advance for the farm schedules. 

Photo: 1940 US Census Part A, US Census Bureau

The first article that I found was written by Elmo Scott Watson and released by the Western Newspaper Union entitled “Uncle Sam Prepares to Count His Children – and How His Family Has Grown Since First Census in 1790!” on December 21, 1939.

The article was well written with a history of how the census came to be, the population predictions of President John Adams and President John Tyler, and a fear among the deeply religious early settlers that the 1790 census would bring about a destruction, similar to the time in the Bible when David numbered Israel and the Lord sent pestilence to smote them.

“Officials of the census bureau regard the 1940 US Census as probably the most important and far reaching since that first one 150 years ago. For this one will be much more than a mere counting of noses.”   In addition to the usual questions of population, industry, and farming and manufacturing production … the census will also focus on the “new social and economic situations which have arisen in the last few years, bringing with them problems that are yet unsolved”.   The 1940 US Census included questions about unemployment and migration from one state to another.  And the health questions were intended to help the government anticipate how many men would be incapacitated for military service.

On February 1, 1940 there was an article on Page 2 entitled “Range of Family” explaining how “family” and “dwelling” would be defined in the 1940 US Census. 

On March 14, 1940 there was an article in the Farm News on Page 7 entitled “U.S. Bureau of Census Requests Cooperation in 1940 Inquiry” informing farmers that they can help increase the speed and accuracy of the Census by filling out a sample farm census schedule created by the US Department of Commerce.

On March 21, 1940 there was an Editorial about two questions objected to by many.  Question 33 asks about income over $50 from sources other than wages or salary.  Question 48 asks if a person has been married more than once.    

By August 1, 1940 the Murray Eagle headlines declared “Census Shows 468 Population Gain. Murray Falls Short of Fifth Largest City By Three Babies  With 5,640 Tally”. Would be interesting to see if we could find out who the next three babies born after April 1st in Murray were? ;o)  Bet their mother's would have been glad to deliver early, especially if they were at that horrible last month waiting stage. 

http://media.nara.gov/census-1940/A3378/UT/m-a3378-00066-00483.jpg

If you are looking for some additional help to get you prepared to research the 1940 Census, be sure to stop by the Legacy Family Tree website.  They hosted a free webinar today with over 1,000 attendees called “Navigating the 1940 US Census”.  Luckily the webinar was recorded, and you can access the recording for free ... but only until March 19, 2012.  So don't procrastinate.

Simply visit http://www.millenniacorp.com/_videos/webinars/2012-03-07-1940/2012-03-07-1940.html and then press the play button.

If you are fortunate enough to have someone in your life who remembers the 1940s, be sure to interview them.  The Unpuzzling Your Past Workbook by Emily Anne Croom has some wonderful interview questions related to the 1940s and WWII that can help you get started.  You should be able to find her workbook at most public libraries, or purchase your own copy through Amazon. 

And don't forget, there is still time to register to help index the 1940 US Census.  Just go to the 1940 US Census Community Project and download the indexing software (found under Downloads in the Quick Links section).  

Let the countdown continue ... :)

Love and Aloha,
~Amy

Tuesday’s Tip - What's the Big Deal about Census Records?

WOW! Can you believe there are only 41 days left until the 1940 census is released.

I bet some of you are wondering what all this hulabaloo is about.  How can census records help in your research?  Perhaps some of you have even found the census records for your family lines but didn't really know how to extract all the information that was provided, focusing only on age and place of birth and the names of spouses and their children.  Or worse yet, you haven't seen the actual census page, but have taken your information directly from the volunteer index. Which is how I started out with my own personl research umpteen years ago, since the idea of threading the microfilm machine was too scary a prospect for me. ;o)

Census records are not that complicated, and fortunately for us we can now view them online through free services like FamilySearch.org or Heritage Quest (through your local library) or through subscription sites like Ancestry.com.  Censuses can provide you with so much more information if you know what you are looking at and how to interpret what you are reading. 

Ancestry recently did a webinar called "Census: Beyond Names and Dates". (http://livestre.am/1ix3P) that helps you understand 1) what types of information you can find in various census forms, 2) where to find blank forms to extract this information on your family, and most importantly 3) what to do with the information when you find it. :)

Watch live streaming video from ancestry at livestream.com

You can find FREE blank census forms in pdf format on Ancestry's website, under the Learning Center tab (Go to Learning Center, then First Steps, then Paper and Pencil).  And best of all, you do not need to have a Ancestry.com membership in order to access these great resources.

US Census forms from 1790 to 1940: http://www.ancestry.com/trees/charts/census.aspx

Canadian Census forms for 1851, 1901, 1906 and 1911: http://www.ancestry.com/trees/charts/canadacensus.aspx

UK Census forms from 1841 to 1911: http://www.ancestry.com/trees/charts/ukcensus.aspx

Meanwhile, if you want to get a head start on what information you will be able to glean from the 1940 census, be sure to download Part 1 and Part 2 of the 1940 census form and familiarize yourself to the 34 questions that were asked by the census takers.

Thanks for stoping by.

Love and Aloha,
Cuzn Amy

PS  ... I just registered to be a 1940 Census Blog Ambassador to help spread the word about this amazing volunteer program.  Won't you join with me and volunteer to help index the 1940 census and be a part of this national service project to preserve and share the census records of the “Greatest Generation.”