Everyone is all abuzz over the release of the 1950 US Federal Census. Many of us were up late waiting for the midnight release. I joined Amy Johnson Crow for a release party on YouTube. We were visiting with friends and preparing for the moment the Census was released on the National Archives website. When it finally hit, we all scattered and went searching. Almost like an Easter Egg hunt. You can watch the video below.
Mom, Dad, and Their Parents
That first night, I only planned on looking up my parents since I had to get up early the next morning for a doctor's appointment. Mom's family, I was able to find them right away thanks to the Enumeration District. I knew where they were living when the census came through so that helped a great deal.
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| 1950 US Fed Census Missouri, Gravois - 95-279 National Archives Wheeler Family |
Mom has given me the information that she was told. She was only a month old when the census came through. Later that year they moved to another location, but that was after the census came through. I wrote about them in previous posts here:
Now, Dad's family was more tricky. They were moving around a lot during this time, so there were a couple of places they could have been, and I only had addresses for two of them. While Dad was still alive, he had told me about the places they lived. He had an impeccable memory. The first two places were in Kirkwood that my grandpa built. I had addresses for them and looked them up right away. Nope, they weren't there. Next came the places I DIDN'T have addresses for. Only some details.
Dad told me after Kirkwood they lived temporarily in Arnold. First at a Gas Station that my Papa was trying to acquire and then at Bridge Inn that doubled as a cafe and Inn. Dad said Papa ran the business while Grandma was the cook for the cafe. Dad said they lived either above the cafe or in one of the buildings on the property. But he couldn't remember where the Bridge Inn was exactly located. I had planned on taking him for a drive around the area to see if that would spark some memory, but he had passed away before I could do that.
Unfortunately, the deal fell through at Bridge Inn for some reason, dad couldn't remember why, although he was just a kid. Now at this point they were homeless. They ended up moving to their clubhouse on the Meramec River near Eureka. That was yet another location they would have been living when the Census came through. And this was also another location I had no address for. So this was going to be tricky.
Like I said, I tried Kirkwood first but they weren't there. So the next part was searching in Arnold which was in Jefferson County. I had no address or location of where to look, so I was going to have to rely on the preliminary index that was created from the National Archives. Oh, and am I glad they had that. I did a search in Jefferson County for my Papa's name and it came up. I couldn't believe it! Based on the information given, my Papa was a Cafe Operator and Grandma was a cook. Just like my dad told me. So this must have been for the Bridge Inn. I have now been pouring over maps to try to find the exact location of where the Bridge Inn was located. I know I will be working with my Aunt on this, who was also alive at this time and on the census. So you know I will be writing more about this later.
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| 1950 US Fed Census Missouri, Rock Township - 50-34 National Archives Fuchs Family |
Great-Grandparents
I had three sets of Great-Grandparents and one Great-Grandma to look up in this census. Not to mention my husband's family, which we will discuss later.
- Nellie Fuchs
- Robert & Louise Strawhun
- James Benjamin & Pearl Wheeler
- Joseph & Margaret Ilg
The only set I have not found is James Benjamin & Pearl. I had a couple of addresses for them based on sources I had, but they were not living at those addresses; other people were living there. I did a search for them, but St. Louis is a huge area, so that didn't narrow anything down. I know at some point, James Benjamin was put into a nursing home, but don't know when. So they are going to have to wait until the index is more complete.
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| 1950 US Fed Census Missouri, Kirkwood - 95-75 National Archives Fuchs Family |
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| 1950 US Fed Census Missouri, Kirkwood - 95-84 National Archives Strawhun Family |
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| 1950 US Fed Census Missouri, St. Louis - 95-315A National Archives Ilg Family |
Other Family Members
Not only did I have Great-Grandparents, I had some 2nd Great-Grandparents to find on my Maternal Grandmother's line. Oma Mae Caldwell and her ex-husband, Edward Buer. Oma lived in her mother's old house, so she was easy to find. But Edward and his new wife, Alice were a little more difficult to track down. Their address was just outside of town limits, so it was hit or miss for the Enumeration District. But they were located.
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| 1950 US Fed Census Missouri, St. Louis - 96-791 National Archives Caldwell Family |
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| 1950 US Fed Census Illinois, Will County - 99-112 National Archives Buer Family |
One family I still have not found in the census is my 2nd Great Aunt, Ruth Kelley and her husband James Howard. I knew this was going to be my most difficult couple. James Howard Kelley worked as an architect, at least that's what I was told, and he traveled around a lot. He lived in Missouri, Illinois, Washington and even Alaska. Mom told me she remembered him sending her a little Eskimo doll from their when she was little. It was also rumored that he helped design the Seattle Space Needle. Since they moved a lot, it is unknown where they were living in 1950 when the census came through. So they will have to wait until the indexes are complete then hopefully I will be able to track them down.
Mark's Family
Not only did I look up my own family, but I also looked up my hubby's family. I'm the one who has done the research on his family so why wouldn't I? I found both his parents and grandparents easily at the addresses I had for them. This is the first year for both of our parents to be on the census. It was neat to see what Mark's grandfather did for a living.
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| 1950 US Fed Census Missouri, St. Louis - 96-1494 National Archives Rickards Family |
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| 1950 US Fed Census Missouri, Kirkwood - 95-362 National Archives Swope Family |
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| 1950 US Fed Census Missouri, Breckenridge - 13-1 National Archives McGrew Family |
Now for the 1950 census, they were not next to each other. It probably has to do with the enumerators and which farms they visited in the order they did. Enumeration District lines appeared to be the same as in 1940 so that had nothing to do with it. Whatever the case, thanks to maps, I was able to locate where they should be on the 1950 Census. I explained this in more depth in another blog post: Maps of Clinton County - How Galen & Pearl Met. This time on the census, Irene was the head of the household and her mother, Mary, and sister, Ethel, lived with her. But their brother, James, was not listed in this Enumeration District. Is it possible they moved? Unsure at this time. It will require a bit more research. I do know we will be making another trip up to Clinton County maybe this summer. The good news is I found them on the census.
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| 1950 US Fed Census Missouri, Lafayette - 25-13 National Archives Swope Family |
Spreading wide now in Mark's family tree, two ancestors I was excited to find were Ruth & Scottie Rickards. Ruth moved to Iowa from Illinois sometime in the 1920s and after their father died, Scottie moved in with her. Scottie has been a curious ancestor for a while. I wrote about him in a blog post for the 52 Ancestors Challenge: Week 4 - Curious. As you read in the post, there was a lot unknown about him. I've been putting together some information about him as I learn it. The most recent I wrote about in two Friday Finds posts. Westminster College and Update on Scottie Rickards.
So I was looking forward to seeing the 1950 Census to try to get an idea of when his condition started. I found their address in a 1950 City Directory, so finding them wasn't hard. But I got my answer by looking at the census. Scottie was listed as Unable to Work. So whatever happened, it happened before he moved and sometime after college. Interesting. Another piece of the puzzle is found.
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| 1950 US Fed Census Iowa, Des Moines - 102-29 National Archives Rickards Family |
The last ancestor I wanted to find on Mark's side is a living 1st cousin, once removed. I've been in contact with her and her family for a few years now. I got their address directly from her, so I knew it was correct. But finding the Enumeration District was tough. I had to go through a couple of different maps to find it. Read about it here: What If I Can't Find a Street? But I did find the Enumeration District and I did find the ancestor.
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| 1950 US Fed Census Texas, Houston/South Side - 101-5 National Archives Rickards Family |
These are not all the people I looked up in the 1950 census, but the main ones. I did look up ancestors for friends and just for personal fun. Having the Enumeration Districts beforehand really did help locate our ancestors in the 1950 Census. There were only a few times I had to use the preliminary index on the National Archives site. And I am grateful for it as I wouldn't have found my Dad without it. Now that I have found the census pages, it's time to analyze them more closely for clues and information.
I will also be helping index the census as time goes on. You can help index now on the National Archives site and you can help on Ancestry & Family Search but only on the states they currently have available. I put in for a notification when Missouri is ready to be indexed.
Who Have You Found??
Jen, you found so many folks! Congrats. Your planning really paid off. I'm still looking for my maternal grandparents but expect to find them before end of the week.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I do hope you find your grandparents. Some ancestors are just determined to not be found sometimes. But we stubborn lol!
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