Searching For Census Records

Today has been a busy day. I've been searching for Census records for a client's ancestor's in order to provide proof of the family names she already has listed in her tree.

I have been totally at a loss! I found a single record for 1850. According to the tree she provided me with, there should have been several children added to the family by 1850. Even a nationwide search did not reveal the family for the 1860 census.

Finally, in searching the county and state where they SHOULD HAVE BEEN I began searching using just one of the children's first name's. I left the surname on the search engine blank. This provided a rather large database in the county of everyone with the same first name.

They last name should have been listed as "ISOM. However, what I finally found was the correct first name with the unusual surname of TROM". Sure enough, a thorough search of that particular record revealed the transcriber had read the surname ISOM as TROM. And, there the family finally appeared.

Moral? If you are searching for a family in an area and you feel certain they should have been there, perhaps you might do a search using the given name. See how many options you have and choose from there.

As my old grandpa used to say, "There's more than one way to skin a cat!"

Have a great week everyone!

Cyndi