If Uncle Herman (or Aunt Hermina) disappears after they reach young adulthood, consider the fact that they might not really have disappeared?

In some families if a child was “not right,” they might have been institutionalized and never mentioned again.

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  1. It is possible to find enumeration lists of institutionalized patients in the census.

    I’ve read that in some major cities some census workers were hired as a reward for political support and weren’t expected to canvas their assigned area. Is that true?
    I’ve used that excuse as to why some of my forebears are missing in a census where they “ought” to be…

    • It is. The lack of the 1890 census creates a problem for those where that year is crucial to their research. It’s also possible the occasional patient was missed or whose time in the institution did not include a census year. While census jobs could be used for political patronage, most areas were canvassed. Moving around the time of enumeration, refusing to answer the door, or being members of an ethnic group who some enumerators tended to overlook are probably more likely reasons to miss being enumerated.

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