[Genealogy] Census Misconceptions, Reasons, and More

Tue Dec 23 09:20:29 CST 2025

Need to unsubscribe? Manage here
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/mailman/listinfo/genealogy_genealogytipoftheday.com>
.

**Census Misconceptions
**Full-Text Search Webinar
**FamilySearch Catalog
**Can You Always Find a Reason?

----------------------------
Census Misconceptions
----------------------------

   -

   *Pre-1850 US census records tell you nothing.* They can provide some
   information about general members of the household, but the analysis is not
   as easy as with census records 1850 and after.
   - *Tax records can be a good census substitute**. *Tax records can be
   used as part of an extensive research plan and they are helpful when census
   records are not extant, but keep in mind that tax records serve a different
   purpose than do census records. Census records were theoretically meant to
   count everyone. Tax records usually locate people who have property to
   tax…usually.
   - *Census records are always **inaccurate. *Census records can be
   correct or they can be incorrect–just like any record. Some families were
   better about giving more accurate information (or tell the truth) than
   others, some were easier to understand than others, some enumerators did a
   better job than others, etc. Don’t assume the census is always wrong. It’s
   not.

Census records contain details that were considered useful at the time.
They served a certain purpose and they were created by humans–just like any
other record. And they should be analyzed in the same way–just like any
other record.

-----------------------------

Revised Full-Text Searching Webinar for 2026

-----------------------------

We’re excited to offer this revised presentation on the full-text searching
at *FamilySearch*--reflecting changes made to the site since this was
recorded in August 2025. We’ve redesigned our presentation as this
functionality continues to change. And…we have an extensive handout
complete with forms to help you find more people. Available for download by
5 January 2026. Order now for $25
<https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/67D7Z5H4ZQHJA>.

If you have purchased an earlier version of this presentation--email me at
mjnrootdig at gmail.com for the code to order this revision for $10.
Fully Utilizing Full-Text Search: Revised for January 2026

Your purchase includes:

   - *A 90 minute (or more presentation)* you can view as often as you want.
   - *Detailed handout* with charts and forms to help organize your
   searches. Charts and forms sent as separate files you can edit and
   customize and not as a locked PDF you have to re-create yourself as a new
   document.

We’ll be including and discussing:

*Determining what is in Full-Text Search—*what you can access at home and
what you will have to be in a FamilySearch facility or affiliate to access.

*Seeing How AI Transcriptions are different*—they aren’t like the
transcriptions made by humans. That can change your approach.

*Remembering that Full-Text means every word*—approaches need to differ as
we aren’t looking up a name in an index any more.

*Asking Who* is in the record? We aren’t just searching for the main person
like we did with traditional indexes. We’ll discuss how to determine who
could be mentioned in a record.

*Determining How to search?* There are a variety of ways to search and
filter results. We’ll see how each one works to help determine the best
strategy.

*Creating search strategies*—how full-text search changes your approach and
why just dumping terms in search boxes is not always effective.

*Determining what you found* The interface does not always make this clear.
We will show you how to get beyond the confusion and help you get enough
detail for a citation.

*Creating effective problem-solving approaches*—what to do when you cannot
find something you want.

*Demonstrating practical examples*—completely new people and families from
our previous presentations.

Available 5 January 2026. Order now for $25
<https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/67D7Z5H4ZQHJA>.
------------------------------
Reliance on Memory and Why Three May Equal Five
------------------------------

Mom graduated from college in 1963. I was sure of it. I was positive. I
would have bet money on it. Well not a lot of money and certainly not an
entire paycheck, but perhaps the change floating around in my pocket. After
all I wasn’t alive in 1963 and wagering on events one did not witness is
risky business even when one is certain they took place.

Turns out it was a good thing I never made that wager.

Mom told me she had finished college in three years (“was done” is most
likely the phrase she used). I had heard her tell me more than once and I
knew I had heard it. The number stuck in my head like a song that just will
not leave.  Three years. The memory was combined with the caveat that Mom
didn’t want me to try and finish college in three years because some times
she wished she had not done it that way herself.

She never told me why she was done in three years and I never thought to
ask. She had worked at the college bookstore to support
herself and apparently had some student loans. Finishing in three years was
a way to cut the total cost down. The reason was practical and
quintessential Mom.

And so when it came time to write her obituary, I indicated she had
graduated in 1963. She had graduated high school in 1960 and little math
was required to determine that three years later would be 1963. Math does
not get much simpler than that.

The only problem was her diploma dated 1965. The diploma was discovered
before the obituary was published. My error was corrected. But I was
confused.

And then I remembered.

Mom had started teaching elementary school back in the day when a completed
bachelor’s degree was not required. She had enough credits and was allowed
to teach even though she had not finished her degree. Those stories of her
driving to Macomb (home of Western Illinois University, Mom’s alma mater)
with some of her fellow teachers to take summer classes came flooding back
to me. It made perfect sense and explained the 1965 graduation date.

It also made sense why Mom said she “was done” in three years. She was done
enough to start teaching but technically had not graduated.

But it got me to thinking.

How many pieces of information are in records because someone remembers
part of a story or remembers a story incorrectly? How often do we use
information provided in a record without giving too much thought as to how
the informant came to know that information? Was the informant providing
information based on only part of the story?Was the informant providing
information at time when they were under stress or were distracted?

And how many times do we hear a phrase and conclude that it means a little
more than it does? “Getting done” could be slightly different than
graduating–at least in Mom’s situation.

I cannot provide primary information as to when my mother graduated
college because I was not alive when it happened. That’s a simply fact of
chronology. I could scream it as loud as I wanted. I could type it in bold
face using the largest font. Communicating the information loudly and
proudly does not change the fact that my knowledge is not primary.

That diploma? It does provide primary information and the type size is not
unusually large.

And me? Against Mom’s advice I graduated from college in three years.
That’s something I have primary knowledge of because I personally witnessed
it.

And somewhere is the diploma to prove it.

----------------------------------

Using the FamilySearch Catalog

-----------------------------------

Delivery date of 11 January 2026

Pre-order at $20.00 <https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/WAF85QETY39FW>.
Normal price is $28.00

Confused about what is on FamilySearch? Having difficulty knowing what is
online there and how to access it? This presentation will lead you out of
the confusion.

Contents will include:

Various ways the catalog can be searched–the six verbal ways (location,
title, keyword, surname, author, subject) and the two more numeric ways
(call number and film/image group number). We will see how to:

   -

   effectively navigate the catalog search results,
   -

   determine how catalog materials can be accessed,
   -

   be aware of all geographic levels for a specific location,
   -

   determine what indexes and finding aids are available
   -

   see ways to avoid searching the same set of records multiple times
   accidentally,
   -

   see how common record types are frequently cataloged,

Preorder today and save $8.
<https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/WAF85QETY39FW>

----------------------------------
Can You Always Find A Reason?
----------------------------------

One clue to learning more about your ancestor is determining why he moved
from one point to another. Sometimes the reasons are clear after a little
study of local history if the reason he moved was because of the
destination–called the *pull factor*. If you don’t know where the ancestor
was from, it may be more difficult to determine the reason why he
left–called the *push factor*. It is difficult to read relevant local
histories when you are unaware of where the ancestor was from.

Reasons might not always be stated in local histories. Your ancestor might
have migrated because of family connections, the fact that a former
neighbor had settled in the area, or that there was some type of employment
that he could easily obtain. Sometimes the “connection” will be impossible
to find. Generally genealogists are advised to research associates of the
ancestor in his earlier days of residence in an area to get an idea of
individuals he might have known “back home.” Sometimes that is easier said
than done.

And if your ancestor didn’t move—there’s a reason for that as well.

If you speculate on why an ancestor moved (or didn’t) clearly indicate that
your speculation is speculation. And remember, that many of our conclusions
are speculation. Very few of our ancestors left behind detailed records
explaining why they did what they did.

Often, we look at the records they left behind, use generalities gleaned
from history, economics, and known social behavior, and weave a story.
Sometimes that story is correct, but sometimes it is not. After all,
ancestors leave behind pieces of themselves and when we use those records
to tell their story, we often weave some of ourselves into the tapestry we
create.

-----------------------

Consultations

-----------------------

--------------------------------------------------

Genealogy Research Consultation Holiday Sale--save $40

--------------------------------------------------
Need some guidance with your research, but don't need a class, don't need
to hire a researcher for $1000 or more?

Just need someone to look at what you have and give you ideas on what to do
next?

That's exactly what a genealogy consultation is for and we're having a sale
on ours for the Holiday Season.

Save $40! We are offering a limited number of consultations at this reduced
price--normal price is $140.

More details about our consultations are available at:
https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/consultations-with-michael/

Space at this reduced rate is limited!

Reserve your consultation today. Scheduling takes place after
registration--bookings are now scheduled in January--avoiding the holidays!

----------------------
Unsubscribing?
----------------------
*Need to unsubscribe? Do so at:*
*https://genealogytipoftheday.com/mailman/listinfo/genealogy_genealogytipoftheday.com
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/mailman/listinfo/genealogy_genealogytipoftheday.com>*

-- 
------------------------------------
Michael John Neill
Genealogy Tip of the Day
http://www.genealogytipoftheday.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://genealogytipoftheday.com/pipermail/genealogy_genealogytipoftheday.com/attachments/20251223/b92f9e09/attachment-0001.html>