Census On The Internet
By Karen Coombs
One of the greatest tools we have for research is the Census. Our ability to see the actual entries is a real blessing.
There
are three major sites on the Internet for our use:
Become
familiar with the viewers available. The more you use them the less frustrated
you will be.
All censuses will eventually use this viewer. At this point only the 1920 and 1930 Censuses use it.
When
the view first appears with your record, select Advanced Viewer. Some of
the features you will be able to use are listed below:
1.
Magnifier
– magnifies a selected area.
2.
Select
– This will draw a box around an area and magnify it and then you can print
that specific area.
3.
Invert
– Right click, choose Invert. This changes white to black and black to white.
4.
Pan
– This hand lets you move the page around so you can scan the entire page.
5.
Zoom
– This is a gauge where you can select the magnification you are comfortable
with.
This
is the old style viewer. Some of its features are:
1.
Increase
to Full Page – This feature is located at bottom of the census window. Click on
it and the screen changes to a full page.
2.
Magnify + —This
feature increases the size of the image.
3.
Magnify - —This
feature increases the size of the image.
4.
Hand
– Lets you move the image. If the hand is missing ask for help in downloading
this tool.
The
indexes in Ancestry vary in content. The 1930 Index is an every name index.
1920, 1870, 1860, 1850 are head-of-household names only.
The
1860 Census only has a few states.
Every
name indexes expand your research possibilities. If the head-of-household has a
common name then you can search by wife’s name or a child’s name.
When
no indexes are available, you can do a page-by-page search.
Each
state included in Ancestry is divided into State-County-Township-Enumeration
District.
The
1880 Census is available here. It has an every name index. If you have signed
on to the site, you can see the images by clicking on Ancestry.com icon.
This is the site of our public library. They have made ProQuest available for our use. You will need a Uintah County Library Card to use this site.
1.
Select –
Heritage Quest-Genealogy Online
2.
Enter all
twelve numbers of your library card.
3.
Select – U.S.
Census
4.
Select –
Advanced Search
5.
Enter name
This
site has head-of-household indexes for all census years. They also have the
entire 1860 census.
Some
advantages in using this site:
1.
Sorts by state
2.
Then sorts by
county
3.
You can narrow
your search if you are looking for a common name.