The Ancestor Hunt
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Newspapers
  • Newspaper Links
  • Obituaries
  • BMD Records
  • Photos
  • Yearbooks
  • Directories
  • By Location
  • Cemetery Records
  • Divorce Records
  • Naturalizations
  • Immigration
  • Mortuary Records
  • Church Records
  • School Records
  • Voter Records
  • Coroner Records
  • Probate and Wills
  • Alumni Records
  • Newsletter Page
  • Tools
  • Genealogy News
  • California Genealogy
  • Videos
  • Fun With Newspapers
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy

How To Find Relatives In The 1940 Census Without An Index

4/26/2012

1 Comment

 
Okay - the 1940 US Census is available at a number of different sites (ancestry.com, familysearch.org, the National Archives 1940 Census website, myheritage.com, familylink.com, etc.)

NOW WHAT?

You can select a county and state of course and browse through all the images, but for larger cities, there are way too many Enumeration Districts (ED) and thus too many images to browse through - but that will work.

If you know the 1940 Enumeration District for the county of interest, then that will narrow the image browsing challenge immensely, but how many of us know the 1940 Enumeration Districts?

If you know the address, or are lucky enough to find a 1940 City Directory for the city of interest - that makes the job MUCH easier. If you have access to the subject City Directory for 1940 - then you are close to being in business.

Two VERY important tools that I have found are Steve Morse's website for searching the Census - "Obtaining Streets Within EDs for the 1940 Census in One Step".  Go to his website http://stevemorse.org/census/index.html?ed2street=1.  You might want to peruse the 1940 Tutorial first, but definitely click on the "Unified 1940 ED Tool" button.  Enter the state and the county - then the city.  Enter the street address next.  It will automatically show you the resulting EDs for that address.  If it is a long street, then you might get several EDs where that street is located.  If you think it is too many to browse, then you can look up the cross streets for the address on the map website of your choosing (e.g. Google Maps) and then you can enter the cross streets in the Unified Tool page.  This will reduce the number of EDs to a manageable amount.  You can add another cross street if you would like to narrow the number even more.  Then browse away until you find the person(s) you are looking for.
Picture
I have found on many occasions that the address is skipped when I first browse. Make sure that you don't give up - at the end of the images for the ED are the "pickups" - those people/families who were not at home  when the census taker first went to the property.

In some cases you will not find who you are looking for.  There are several reasons why you can't find them:

1.  The people did not live at the location stated in the 1940 City Directory.  In that case I would suggest looking in in the 1939 and 1941 directories for that city if you are fortunate enough to have access to them - either online or at the library (if you live in the same city of course).   Then try Steve's website again.

2.  They were missed by the census taker or you skipped over them when you were browsing.

3. You don't have access to a city directory.  In this case you will have to browse through many more images for the entire city (or county as the case may be), or wait for someone to index that state.

I also found cases where the EDs stated did NOT include the address that I was looking for. This was generally because the street went outside the city limits or was annexed after 1940 and the proper ED did not show up on Steve's site. In most of these cases that I found - I was too lazy to scan all the images for the entire county, in some cases were hundreds.

The second tool applies if your subject person(s) lived in New York City It can be found at this link http://directme.nypl.org/.  Just follow the instructions at the top part of the page.  They have married the city directory for all five boroughs with the ED list to help you find the ED(s) for that address quite easily.
Picture
Good luck, and happy browsing (of course you could wait for all the indexes - but that wouldn't be any fun would it?)
1 Comment
hotmail login link
10/10/2017 12:48:54 am

In most of these cases that I found - I was too lazy to scan all the images for the entire county, in some cases were hundreds. <3

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Check Out the NEW Subscription Options

    Save Time

    With the ​By Location Feature
    ​

    Free Resource Links
    ​​

    By Location Newspapers Obituaries BMD Records Directories Photos Yearbooks Cemetery Records Divorce Records Naturalizations Mortuary Records Immigration Church Records School Records Voter Lists Coroners Records Probate and Wills Alumni Records

    Subscribe
    Option 1 - Receive Links to New Published Articles 4 X per month

    Enter Email

    Subscribe
    ​
    Option 2​ - Receive New Complete
    Bi-Monthly Newsletter​ 
    ​
    Enter Email

    Search This Site


    Write or Record Your Autobiography the Easy Way

    Picture
    ​Use the Coupon Code HUNT to get a 10% discount
    Picture
    ​Use the Coupon Code HUNT to get a 10% discount



    Facebook Page
    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    November 2010
    October 2010


Picture
©2012-21

Thanks for Visiting The Ancestor Hunt
The Ancestor Hunt is focused on helping primarily hobbyist genealogy and family history researchers to achieve their goals.

"The Ancestor Hunt" is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program.  There may be a small commission paid to "The Ancestor Hunt" should you purchase from Amazon.
.
"The Ancestor Hunt" is also an affiliate for "A Life Untold", Trace.com, and "Audiobiography". There may be a small commission paid to "The Ancestor Hunt" should you purchase from these companies.