In many rural areas of the United States, census enumerations do not provide exact residences for households. In some cases, particularly before 1880 when enumeration districts came into use, determining where someone lived at the time of the census may not be done with as much precision as we would like.
In rural areas, the census may provide a smaller civil geographic area–such as a township or an election district. Other census enumerations may only be as specific as the county. In all of these cases, determining where your ancestor lived with more precision may be done potentially with land and property tax records (for landowners) or with land and property tax records for their census neighbors (for non-landowners). There may be other records that provide a more specific area of residence, but land and property tax records are probably the first source to utilize. Keep in mind that census neighbors do not necessarily live on properties adjacent to your ancestor. It all depends on the path of the census taker.
3 Responses
Trying to find some family history and I have no clue where to start. Can you help by sending me in the right direction please.
I would start by asking relatives for what information they have or know…and pictures. I would also find relatives in the US census–starting with 1950 and working back. Those are free to search on FamilySearch and we have linked to them here https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2023/10/18/us-censuses-free-at-familysearch/
Check out what genealogical resources your local library has and ask if there is a local genealogical group you can join. Don’t be shy about asking for guidance – we all enjoy sharing tips and stories! But be cautious about jumping to conclusions. My grandmother’s family did not have a very common last name yet I found two families with the same names, same birth order for all five members! in Philadelphia and outside Pittsburgh! Of course only one was her family…