How to use the Internet to Research your Genealogy

On April 01, 2022, the U. S. Department of Commerce and its division The U. S. Census Bureau will release the results of the 1950 U. S. Census population and housing data. This is mandated by federal statute that 72 years after the census data has been gathered and collated the results are then to be available to the public for study.

Did you know that the U. S. Census is available on the internet for you to use to research your family's genealogy?

It is really convenient with the internet searches today and generally can be a great place to start to research your family's genealogy. I have now made up a chart for all my granddaughters that traces back their genealogy at least five (5) generations!

METHOD #1

Enumerator -> a person employed in taking a census of the population.
Enumeration District -> an area that could be covered by a single census taker in one census period.

All of the U. S. Census Population and Housing data is stored and initially accessed through the Enumeration Districts (ED). Knowing where the person(s) you are trying to research resided during the year of the U. S. Census that is being analyzed may be a good way to find the data that you wish to obtain.

Using the site https://stevemorse.org/census/unified.html to find the Enumeration District (ED) for the known location of the person(s) you are researching most times will be less bothersome and time consuming than trying to find said person(s) by their given name & surname {Don’t be surprised at the great number of exact and similar names there are in most searchable databases}. Once you follow its directions and list all of the significant data that its search engine requires{Using Google Earth Pro to find the location and then switching to Google Maps Street View to obtain the cross streets its search engine will also request can zero in on the exact ED for which you are searching}. The same site also has links to the actual maps which you can view and download to help anyone with their research.

Next you click on the Enumeration District that the search engine indicates and you will be offered your choice of viewers that can show you each of the data sheet pages for that particular ED. This 1^st method probably will be the preferred method for researching the 1950 U. S. Census Population & Housing data that is released on April 01, 2022 because it will take quite a while for all the names of the many persons to be entered into a searchable database that will be available to the general public to access.

METHOD #2

1.) Go to the site http://www.stevemorse.org/census/freesearch.html and type in your relatives' names at the proper places about 3/4 of the way down the page. At the top of the page there will be a dialog box with the year's census you want to search. Be sure to indicate which year's census you want to research. {please note the 1890 census data was destroyed in a fire} It is helpful if you know the state in which your relative(s) resided; otherwise you are going to have to guess in which state they may have resided.

......If you were successful, you should be directed towards a site with many people with the same name as your relative(s); click on the highlighted one that may be your relative. That will bring up a summary sheet of the data on the actual census sheet. If that ISN'T your relative just move on to the next name in the collection. Save a copy of the correct summary page.

.....At the bottom of the summary page there will be listed the "GS Film number" & the "Image Number"; write these numbers down!

2.) Then go back to the site http://www.stevemorse.org/census/freesearch.html and near the bottom of the page you will see places to enter the "GS Film number" & the "Image Number".

.....Then click on the "SEARCH" icon; that should bring up actual census page you are seeking and you can right click on the page and save it to your storage device as a JPG image.

These are just two of the many methods that are available, that the savvy computer user may gather data from the U. S. Census to perform genealogy research!