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Recording and Citing Your Sources: Census Records
By Arlene Jennings, CG
When you go to a research facility to collect information on your ancestors
do you also remember to record sufficient information on the sources you use so
that you could immediately return to a source, or tell someone else how to do
it? That is the information you will need to prepare full and correct citations
if you eventually prepare materials for publication, or even to share. Proving
your assertions about your family history requires, at the most basic level,
accurately and fully citing the sources you used to support your findings.
I write this piece from the experience of one who has had to go back again
and again or throw myself on the mercy of friends I knew were on duty as
volunteers at the National Archives or make long distance phone calls to a
library in Pennsylvania, or a courthouse in Kansas. Trust me! It is definitely
worth doing it right the first time. Write down all essential information. And
write it on the face of each page of data you copy or collect. Not on the back.
It will get lost if the material is ever copied. And not on the first page only.
Pages do get separated.
For the beginning genealogist, and for some of us who have been doing this
work for a while, the question is often, what is enough information? Exactly
what do I need for a full citation of the source I am using?
The purpose of this series is to explain, for each type of record available
at the National Archives in Pittsfield, what data you need to record and what a
full and correct citation looks like. For citations the models we will use are
from Elizabeth Shown Mills Evidence!: Citation & Analysis for the Family
Historian, (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1997).
Let’s start with census records since they are the most used resource at the
National Archives. What do you need to know about the records you use? It
depends on the year of the census, as follows.
For 1790 – 1840,
write down:
Name of head of household
Census year
Location in full—township, county
and state
Page number
Line number
National Archives publication
number
Microfilm roll number
If you write up your research results you will have footnotes or endnotes to
support each bit of data presented. If the same source is cited again you will
use a shorter form of note to reference that same source. And at the end you
will summarize all references cited in your bibliography.
Examples for citations for census records for 1790-1840:
1. Joseph Hart household, 1790 U. S. census, Warminster township, Bucks
County, Pennsylvania, page 156, line 16; National Archives micropublication
M637, roll 8.
1. 1790 U. S. cens., Warminster twp., Bucks Co., Pa., p. 156, line 16.
Pennsylvania. Bucks County. U. S. census, 1790. Micropublication M637,
roll 8. Washington: National Archives.
For 1850-1870,
write down:
Name of head of household
Census year
Location in full—township, county
and state
Page number
Dwelling number
Family number
National Archives publication
number
Microfilm roll number
Examples of citations for census records for 1850-1890:
1. David Marple household, 1850 U. S. census, Bucks County, Pennsylvania,
population schedule, Warminster township, page 122, dwelling 152, family
163; National Archives micropublication M432, roll 759.
4. 1850 U. S. cens., Bucks Co., Pa., population schedule, Warminster
twp., p. 122, dwelling 152, family 163.
Pennsylvania. Bucks County. 1850 U. S. census, population schedule.
Micropublication M432, roll 759. Washington: National Archives.
For 1880-1920, write down:
Name of head of household
Census year
Location in full—township, county
and state
Enumeration district
Supervisor’s district
Sheet number
Dwelling number
Family number
National Archives publication
number
Microfilm roll number
Examples for citations for census records for 1880-1920:
1. John Jennings household, 1900 U. S. census, Osage County, Kansas,
population schedule, city of Burlingame, enumeration district [ED] 115,
supervisor’s district [SD] 88, sheet 4, dwelling 64, family 65; National
Archives micropublication T623, roll 494.
4. 1900 U. S. cens., Osage Co., Ks., population schedule, Burlingame, ED
115, SD 88, sheet 4, dwelling 64, family 65.
Kansas. Osage County. 1900 U. S. census, population schedule.
Micropublication T623, roll 494. Washington: National Archives.
In future issues I’ll give guidelines for recording source information on
passenger list records and military records. But meanwhile, why not purchase
Evidence!: Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian in the Bookstore. It
is an invaluable tool for the conscientious genealogist.
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