The intervening ten years in between census records can seem like a genealogical eternity. Some families can move several times in the intervening gap from one enumeration to another. A family I’m creating a chronology for was in southern Illinois in the late 1840s, northern Illinois during roughly 1851-1855, Kansas in the late 1850s, and likely back in northern Illinois in 1860. A lot can happen during the ten years between enumerations. It can be helpful to look at:
- property records
- tax records
- military pension/benefit records
- etc.
to try and document the moves. Always consider the possibility that all or some family members may move “home” for a short time, only to leave again.
One response
Don’t omit looking for birth records of any children that join the family. That was the key for one of my family groups that were in Springfield Illinois for both the 1860 and 1870 census, but lived in Missouri and Texas in the intervening years!