Planning the ships research project

2012.04.28
The Dayton Public Library has about 75 shelf feet of published books that list immigrant passengers of ships that arrived in the New World. Each book lists from 50,000 to as many as 500,000 passengers' names, along with the date of arrival and the ship name. There are no indexes of the names,except for some of the books that index just that book. Some of the series are grouped chronologically, but not all. Some books list all immigrants in alphabetic order, some by the ship's arrival in port. I have yet to review all, but at least some list the original sources that the volume documents

Books that list immigrants to America, Dayton public library, main branch 

Since Robert Schuh's questions about when each of the Kohn brothers emigrated, what ships they took, and where they arrived in the U.S., I've been planning the research that's needed to answer the questions. Not that I didn't have the same questions, but I put it off because I knew the detailed work that the research entails. Because of the huge number of secondary resources and the lack of indexes, I want to go through the volumes only once, though there are many ancestors who made the crossing at various times.

I am now building a spreadsheet that lists each person who emigrated. Where possible, I'm including the last known date in Europe and the first known date in the U.S. I'm lucky for the Johann Reinert family and two of the Kohn brothers. (See the list in the report about Robert Schuh's visit.)

But I plan to include as many emigrées as possible, including these ancestors:

• Great-grandmother Maria Stephan left Königheim, in today's Main-Tauber-Kreis of Baden-Wurttemberg and was naturalized in 1872 or 1873. (She was born in 1849.)
• Great-grandfather Anton Deneke left Brakel, in today's Kreis Höxter, Nordrhein-Westfalen and apparently immigrated in 1872. He resided in Cincinnati, Ohio before 1876. (He was born in 1836.)
• Great-grandmother Leopoldina Salinger left Breisach-am-Rhein, in today's Kreis Breisach,  Baden-Wurttemberg, perhaps in 1872 with a sister Maria Anna Josepha Salinger and brother Anton Hermann Salinger. (They were born in 1839, 1838, and 1836.)
• Great-grandfather Robert Ohnsat left Grüben, in what was once Kreis Falkenberg, Schlesien, Ostpreußen, but now called Grabin, in Niemodlin county, Opole, Poland. He resided in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by 1872, as did his brother Joseph Ohnsat. It's possible that another brother Carl Anton Ohnsat emigrated and settled in the Detroit, Michigan area. (They were born in 1835, 1842, and 1844.)
• Second-great-grandparents John Butler and Mary Kennedy left Thomastown, County Kilkenny, Ireland with their four children to settle in or near Syracuse, New York by February 1837. (They were born in 1801 and 1797.)
• Second-great-grandparents Dennis Cummings and Margaret Walsh, who left Ireland, perhaps with their family of two daughters. They were recorded in the 1860 U.S. Federal Census in Dane County, Wisconsin. (They were born in 1806 and 1800.)
• Chuck's grandfather Giovanni (John) Iacano or Chuck's great grandparents Francesco Gacomo and Francesca Rovetto left Ragusa, Siracusa Province, Sicily. If it was his grandfather Giovanni, he arrived on his own—or perhaps with a brother Emanuel—on 20 March 1904. (They were born in 1882, about 1855, and about 1855.)
• Chuck's great grandparents Vincenzo Russo Femminella and Rosa Blogna (or Bologna) left Miltello Rosmarino, Messina Province, Sicily, arrived at Ellis Island on 29 June 1911 with their two children Angela, who is Chuck's grandmother, and her brother Biagio. (They were born in 1879 and about 1869.)
• Chuck's great grandfather Charles Derry, or Chuck's 2nd great grandfather, whose name is unknown so far, were in the United States before 1857. (He was born about 1820.)

I want to do this research only once, because the list of sources is so daunting. I encourage other family genealogists to add a comment if there's another immigrant I should research. In your comment, include all that you know about the arrival, such as

• Full name
• Likely date of arrival, or range of time
• Departure port
• Accompanying family members and their relationships

At least for now, I plan on focused work on arrivals at New York, but I can expand the search with other requests. I'll update this post as my plans reach the next stage, of actually going through the sources.

2012.06.02
I added the brothers to Robert Ohnsat and added birth years for each person.
2012.05.08
I added dates to the listed family who immigrated.
2012.05.01
A discussion of American immigration by ship refers to the National Archives holdings and essential secondary sources in multi-volume books. The Dayton and Montgomery County Public Library has some of these multi-volume books in its 75 shelf feet of materials.  They include:

• The famine immigrants : lists of Irish immigrants arriving at the port of New York, 1846-1851 Ira A. Glazier, editor ; Michael Tepper, associate editior. (7 v. : ill. ; 24 cm. Contents: v.1. January, 1846-June, 1847.--v.2. July 1847-June 1848.--v.3. July 1848-March 1849.--v.4. April 1849-September 1849.--v.5. October 1849-May 1850.--v.6. June 1850-March 1851.--v.7. April 1851-December 1851.) The Great Potato Famine, brought on by a blight that struck the potato crop, reduced nearly all of Ireland to poverty. Between 1846-1851 over a million men, women, and children emigrated to the U.S. and Canada, the majority of them entering through the port of New York. In essence, this work is a chronological listing of nearly 651,000 passengers with name, age, sex, occupation, date of arrival, port of embarkation, and vessel.
• Germans to America. series II : lists of passengers arriving at U.S. ports in the 1840s edited by Ira A. Glazier. (v. <1-7 > : ill., maps ; 24 cm. Contents: v. 1. January 1840-June 1843 -- v. 2. July 1843-December 1845 -- v. 3. January 1846-October 1846 -- v. 4. November 1846-July 1847 -- v.5. July 1847-March 1848 -- v.6. April 1848-October 1848 -- v.7. October 1848-December 1849.) Approximately 70,000 names in each volume. Lists are arranged chronologically by ship arrival. "Every passenger is identified by full name, age, sex, occupation, destination and when . . . available [the] country, province, or town of origin."
• Italians to America : lists of passengers arriving at U.S. ports edited by Ira A. Glazier and P. William Filby. (v. ; 24 cm. Contents: v. 1. January 1880-December 1884 -- v. 2. January 1885-June 1887 -- v. 3. July 1887-June 1889 -- v. 4. July 1889-Oct. 1890 -- v. 5. November 1890-December 1891 -- v.6. January 1892-December 1892 -- v.7. January 1893-September 1893 -- v.8. October 1893-May 1895 -- v.9.June 1895-June 1896 -- v.10. July 1896-June 1897 -- v.11. June 1897-May 1898 -- v.12. May 1898-April 1899 -- v.13. May 1899-November 1899 -- v.14. December 1899-May 1900 -- v.15. May 1900-November 1900 -- v.16. November 1900-April 1901 -- v. 17. April 1901-September 1901 -- v.18. October 1901-March 1902 -- v.19. April 1902-June 1902 -- v.20. June 1902-October 1902 - v.21. November 1902-March 1903 - v.22. March 1903-April 1903 - v.23. April 1903-June 1903 - v.24. June 1903-October 1903 - v.25. October 1903-March 1904 - v.26. March 1904-May 1904.. Includes indexes.)
• Emigrants from Baden and Württemberg in the eighteenth century by Brigitte Burkett.
• Nineteenth century emigrants from Baden : volume 2 : Graben, Linkenheim, Spöck & Staffort / by Brigitte Burkett.
• German immigrants, 1820-1920 / by Helen Frost. (32 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 21 cm. Contents: Early German immigrants -- Life in the old country -- The trip over -- Arriving in America -- Surviving in America -- Keeping traditions -- Timeline -- Famous German-Americans -- Words to know -- To learn more -- Places to write and visit -- Internet sites.)
• Passenger and immigration lists bibliography, 1538-1900: being a guide to published lists of arrivals in the United States and Canada / edited by P. William Filby. Gives "full bibliographic information for more than 2,550 published passenger and immigration lists." A revision of A Bibliography of Ship Passenger Lists, 1538-1825, compiled by Harold Lancour. 3rd ed., rev. and enl. by Richard J. Wolfe, 1963.
• Passenger and immigration lists index: a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries / edited by P. William Filby, with Mary K. Meyer. (3 v. (xxxv, 2339 p.) ; 29 cm.) Alphabetical listing of passengers who arrived in North America and the West Indies between 1538-1900, compiled from published sources: passenger lists and naturalization records. Entries include age; year of arrival or naturalization, with an abbreviation for the bibliographic citation with volume and page. Some 125,000 names are added annually in the published Supplements.
• Passenger and immigration lists index. Supplement. (v. ; 29 cm. Latest issue consulted: 2005. Issued in two pts. per year, 1998-<2004> Cumulates in: Passenger and immigration lists index. cumulated supplements.)
• The Immigration History Research Center : a guide to collections compiled and edited by Suzanna Moody and Joel Wurl ; production coordinated by Judith Rosenblatt and Anne Bjorkquist Ng ; foreword by Rudolph J. Vecoli.

2012.05.08

The website Immigrant Arrivals: A Guide To Published Sources includes these other relevant sources, which may be in the Dayton library.

• Hamburg (Germany). Auswanderungsamt. [Records, 1850-1873.] LC call number: Microfilm 10,897GA-43N-43P Listen Direkt, Manuscript Division; Microfilm 10,897GB-23N-23P Listen Indirekt, Manuscript Division LC control number: mm 83070243

Finding aid, Manuscript Division Reading Room. See also the vertical file, LH&G. Names east European emigrants from two lists covering the period 1850-1873: Direct Lists (indexed) are passengers who sailed directly from Hamburg, Germany, to their destination; Indirect Lists (indexed) names passengers who sailed from Hamburg, but who stopped at another European port before reaching their destination. Handwritten in German script, the names are arranged by first letter of the surname. Entries include name of the ship, master of the vessel, departure date, name of passenger, age, previous residence, occupation, and destination.

• Irish Passenger Lists, 1847-1871: List of Passengers Sailing from Londonderry to America on Ships of the J. & J. Cooke Line and the McCorkell Line. Compiled under the direction of Brian Mitchell. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1988. xvii, 333 p., ill., index. LC call number: E184 .I6I69 1988 LC control number: 87082306

For business reasons two Londonderry shipping firms kept passenger lists of their Atlantic crossings: J. & J. Cooke, 1847-1867, and William McCorkell & Co., 1863-1871. Cooke's include name of ship, year of embarkation, destination, Irish address of the passenger (usually town), and ages of children. The McCorkell lists provide name and address of passenger, month and year of embarkation, ages of children, month and year "engaged" at Philadelphia by the Robert Young and Co., name of the ship, month and year of embarkation.

• Kaminkow, Jack and Marion. A List of Emigrants from England to America, 1718-1759. Baltimore, Md.: Magna Carta Book Co., 1988. xxvii, 292 p. Includes 3,000 names. "Transcribed from microfilms of the original records at the Guildhall, London." LC call number: E187.5 .K3 1988 LH&G LC control number: 88083835

• Luxembourgers in the New World: A Reedition Based on the Work of Nicholas Gonner, "Die Luxemburger in der Neuen Welt," Dubuque, Iowa, 1889. Edited by Jean Ensch, Jean-Claude Muller, Robert E. Owen; original translations by Gerald L. Liebenau and Jean-Claude Muller. Esch-sur-Alzette, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg: Editions-Reliuers Schortgen, 1987. 2 vols. Ill. LC call number: E184 .L88L89 1987 LH&G LC control number: 87170772

Vol. 1, discussion of Luxembourger emigration, 1840-1890, with comments on settlements, occupations, and activities in the U.S. Vol. 2, principally an index to approximately 4,000 personal and place names cited in the Luxembourger Gazette (Dubuque, Iowa), 1872-1892.

• Schenk, Trudy, Ruth Froelke, and Inge Bork. The Wuerttemberg Emigration Index. Salt Lake City, Utah: Ancestry, Inc., 1986-92. LC call number: CS627 .W86S34 1986 LH&G LC control number: 85052453

Projected 8-volume work, each with approximately 12,000 names of individuals derived from 19th-century immigration registers of Wuerttemberg, Germany. Data include date and place of birth, date of emigration application, destination, home district of the applicant, and number of the microfilmed originals at the Genealogical Society of Utah.

Further reading may be necessary at these websites.

• PASSENGER LISTS: The Pitfalls - A Personal Experience
• Finding Passenger Lists & Immigration Records 1820-1940s

Certainly there are other references to look up.

Four ships came sailing

Ancestor chart, Robert Schuh

Recently some cousins from Germany visited Chuck and me in Palm Springs. Robert Schuh and his wife Annemarie from Wasserliesch and Barbara Schuh, the younger of their two daughters included Palm Springs as part of their tour of California, Nevada, and Arizona. They flew to San Francisco, rented an SUV, drove to Las Vegas, Brice Canyon, and the Grand Canyon, and then to Palm Springs before a few days in Los Angeles and their return to San Francisco. Yes, they were packing in as much American Southwest as possible for a three-week trip.

Robert and I are 3rd cousins. My great-grandfather John M. Kohn is a brother to Robert's great-grandmother Barbara Kohn-Schuh. Our first ancestor in common is our 2nd great-grandfather Johann Matthias Kohn V (1804-1877 in Wasserliesch). On the ancestor charts (at right), he is marked with a solid arrow.

The family arrived as the result of following their GPS directions to our home. Robert pulled their SUV into our driveway while Chuck and I were working in the front yard. I was burying irrigation tubes and Chuck was cleaning pine needles and stray weed-grasses out of the cactus.

Ancestor chart, Tom Kohn

We proudly showed them our garden and what we most recently finished, the path and patio underneath a towering pine tree. Annemarie and Barbara both tried Chuck's favorite relaxing spot, a hammock shaded by the pine tree.

We gave them directions to their hotel and made plans to meet them there for dinner nearby at The Cowboy Way, a favorite informal restau that serves the best western bar-b-que. Thanks to Barbara, who is a superbly conscientious interpreter, we had a spirited conversation at dinner. Robert and Annemarie told us about Wasserliesch, other members of our family who live there, the homes and locations that I've noted in my research through the Kirchenbücher and websites. Chuck talked about his writing, American politics and culture, and his family and early years in Cleveland. And from time to time, Robert and I spoke directly about family history and swapped American and German family stories.

The next morning, while Chuck was playing volleyball and Kazu was at the gym, the Schuhs picked me up to show them what I love about Palm Springs. We drove east along Highway 111, and I pointed out a few of my favorite areas for off-road biking, we drove to the top of the cove neighborhood at the south end of Cathedral City, and then we went to Indian Canyons directly south of Palm Springs. We hiked all of Andreas Canyon, which is about a mile of gentle hiking up the canyon along the stream. The return hike leads up to the top of the canyon's south wall, from where you see a great panorama of the entire canyon and many native cactus and ground covers. We drove on to the trading post, descended into Palm Canyon, and walked a little among the immense Washingtonian palms.

We topped the afternoon with a drive up to the tramway station. We decided against taking the cable car up, since we were dressed only for the valley floor. The temperature at the top station was around 35 degrees (F), much too cool for exploring the trails and lake up there.

Ancestor chart, Oskar Blasius

Robert and I left Annemarie and Barbara at the hotel for some late afternoon poolside relaxing, and he and I talked about our family history research. I printed the ancestor charts duplicated in this post, and we talked about the three Kohn brothers who emigrated from Wasserliesch, in 1855, 1865, and 1872. I told him of my guess that John M. Kohn and Susannah Reinert had met while they lived on opposite banks of the Mosel River, and Robert described how closely tied the two towns have been, despite the absence of a bridge between them. Robert told me of meeting Oskar Blasius and his interest in understanding the distant connection between them. I made another ancestor chart and printed it for Robert's next meeting with Oskar, whose 2nd great grandfather is my 3rd great grandfather. (So we are 3rd cousins, once removed.) Our first ancestor in common is Peter Blasius II (1789-1846 in Igel). Peter Blasius II is indicated with a dashed arrow in the ancestor charts.

Robert asked questions that set another research task: What ships brought the Kohn brothers and the Reinert family to America? Did these ancestors emigrate through Hamburg, Bremen, Ostende, or some other port? Did they all arrive in New York? There were other family emigrants also. These are the facts I know about each:

Entlassungsurkunde
Gertrude Blasius-Schmitz

• Matthias Kohn (1829-1888), the eldest of the Kohn brothers who emigrated, was confirmed in Wasserliesch on 25 April 1849 and bought land in La Crosse county, Wisconsin on 15 May 1856. (Section 23, Town 15, Range 5, SW 1/4 NE 1/4 S 23 T 15N R 5W, documented in the county deed books, volume 89. I believe he emigrated in 1855, before Prussia required applications for emigration. He married Josephine Becker in 1865, and they had 11 children and adopted 2 children. He operated a hotel-saloon in La Crosse from about 1866 through his death in 1888. Several of his descendants live in Minnesota.
• Several Blasius siblings emigrated from Igel before 1867 and resided in the Chicago area. These included the widowed Anna Catharina Blasius-Schmitz (1826-after 1869) and her daughter Gertrude, who emigrated April 1863; Nicolaus Blasius (1835-1912, emigrated 1863); and Johann Blasius (1833-1878, emigrated before 1864). All married in America, and several of their descendants still live in the Chicago area.
•  Johann Matthias Kohn (1839-1919) emigrated after applying to the local authorities on 30 June 1865. He stated he was 26 years old, and that the reason for emigrating was "that he has a brother already residing in America and imagines that he will have better prospects." He stated an intention to embark at Le Havre, France. In America he called himself John M. Kohn, lived near Tipton, Kansas, and married Susannah Reinert there in 1874. In 1880, he moved his family to La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he was a milk farmer and deliveryman. Susannah Reinert-Kohn died of heat stroke in 1887, and John M. moved his family back to Kansas and lived there with his mother-in-law for a time. He bought a farm nearby, raised cattle, and drove some cattle to market in Kansas City each year. He died on his farm southwest of Tipton, Kansas.
• Johann Reinert (1822-1871) emigrated after applying to the local authorities on 9 February 1867. In Amerika-Auswanderungen aus den Regierungsbezirken Bitburg und Trier im 19. Jahrhundert, Josef Mergen records the application, "851. Der Leinweber Johann Reinert, geb.12.6.1822 mit seiner Frau Katharine Blasius, ge.20.3.1824 und den Kindern Susanna 8.1.1848, Nikolaus 7.1.1851, Peter 7.5.1853, Maria 27.1.1860, Gertrud 10.12.1864. nach A. 'dass er daselbst Anverwandte habe, welche bereits fuer sein ferneres Fortkommen gesorgt haetten.' 9.2.1867" [...that he has relatives there who have already provided for his expected arrival]. Johann died of cancer of the neck on his farm near Caledonia, Minnesota in 1871, and his widow  Katherine  and the family moved with a dozen other families by wagon train to Kansas in 1872. Katherine died in 1891 on her farm near Tipton, Kansas.
• Michael Kohn (1844-after 1900) emigrated after applying to the local authorities on 17 June 1871.  In his application, he makes the sworn statements "... born in _Prussia_ on or about _1844_ ...[and] landed in the Port of _New_York_ on or about _July_1871_"  This date is corroborated in the Wasserliesch Kirchenbuch. He was naturalized 1 November 1872 in the Circuit Court of Wisconsin and married Theresa Loerscher in Wisconsin in 1874. He worked as a carpenter or furniture maker  in La Crosse for several years, but he lived in Beloit, Kansas about a year and was in the 1880 federal census there. He moved his family to Leavenworth, Kansas. Until recently, his whereabouts was unknown, and I have just uncovered the residence in Leavenworth. He had several children, whom I am researching now.

After a few hours of genealogy, we met again for dinner at  The Blue Coyote, a quiet southwestern restau on North Palm Canyon Drive. Chuck brought his recent book, Dark Dreams 2.0, to show Barbara and her parents, and we had a lively discussion of film that edged often into the arts, politics, and culture. Soon we said good-by, and wished the Schuhs well for their coming few days in Los Angeles and the return to San Francisco.

Move the ED download to a work location

These steps begin after you've downloaded one or more EDs that were canvassed in the 1940 U.S. Federal Census, as guided in a previous blog post. The EDs you downloaded from the National Archives (NARA) site are in zip files, each named by state and ED number. This post guides you in extracting the images from the zip file and placing them in a standard location on your computer.

1. In a directory window, find the files you downloaded in the previous blog post. This is your source directory. How you do this easily depends on your browser. My browser automatically saves files at
   C:\Documents and Settings\Tom\My Documents\Downloads 
   
   
   
   
2. In another directory window, make a directory to hold the census images in an organized group. This is your target directory. For example, I use
   C:\Documents and Settings\Tom\My Documents\Genealogy\Locations\USA\KS\MTCH\U.S. Federal Census 1940
   (that is, I have a separate directory for each state—KS for Kansas, county—MTCH for Mitchell county, and each census—U.S. Federal Census 1940).
   
   
   
   
3. In the source directly, double-click on one of the zip files. The zip directory opens.
   
   
4. Selectto open the extraction wizard.
   
   
5. In the extraction wizard, select.
6. In the top field, enter the name of your target directory. You can copy-paste the name from your source directory window or browse for the directory.
   
   
7. Select. The wizard indicates its progress with green bars.
   
   
8. When the extraction is complete, de-select
   and select .
   
   
9. In the directory that shows the contents of the zip file, selectto see other downloaded zip files.
10. Repeat steps 3 through 9 for each census file in the same county.
11. Repeat steps 2 through 10 for each census file in other counties and other states.

Save the census downloads on your computer

These steps begin after you've recorded the EDs for a state and county that was canvassed in the 1940 U.S. Federal Census, as guided in another blog post. Using those steps, you have just opened the Census Schedules view. Your working area should look like this.

You can review the actual pages written by the census enumerator in this view, but you can also copy the pages to your computer. (This is downloading the file.) I suggest downloading the file so you cam work without using the NARA computer resources and so you have your own copy of the census record.

1. Selectfor one of the EDs you've jotted down.
2. Place your pointer on, and a small window pops up.
3. Click on the Image box, and select All images.
4. Select , and you are asked to type the words in the security image.
5. Click in the answer box, and type the words. 
6. Selectagain. (If your answer is incorrect, you can use steps 4 and 5 several times until your answer is correct.)
7. If the download is successful, you may see the file listed by your browser window. (This depends on your browser and its settings.) For example: 
8. Repeat steps 1 through 7 for any other EDs you want to download.
9. Go to the next blog post, which guides you in placing the downloaded files on your computer.

Choosing the correct Enumeration District

These steps begin after you've selected a state and county that was canvassed in the 1940 U.S. Federal Census, as guided in another blog post. Your working area should look like this.

Working area—ED descriptions for state and county

You can choose one or more of these views.

• If you don't know a name for the area you want a census page for, use the map images to help you find the town, city, ward, or portion of the county (township) and its ED (enumeration district).
• If you have the name for the city, ward, town, or township, use the descriptions to find the ED. The working area shows the descriptions automatically.
• If you have the ED, use the ED list to go immediately to the pages you want.

Map view

Let's work from the Maps view, which lists all available maps that show the EDs for your county. Usually one map shows the full county and its EDs, and another map shows each city or town that has election wards. Some election wards may have more than one ED.

1. Selectfor the county or town.

2. Slide the view bars (at the bottom and right side) to show different parts of the map.
• The small black squares are houses.
• Houses in towns are usually not shown.
• State and U.S. Highways are identified.
• Railways and county roads are mapped but not always identified.
• Usually the boundaries of townships are also boundaries of EDs.
• The ED numbers are usually written in large but fainter numbers. 
• In the example (right), Cawker township has ED 62-11, and Cawker City has ED 62-10.
3. Jot down the EDs you want to view. 
4. Selectto view another page and find other EDs for the county or city.
5. Selectwhen you've reviewed all pages of the map.
6. If you want, repeat steps 1 through 5 for another map.
7. Go to Descriptions view or Census Schedules view, below.

Descriptions view

Let's work from the Descriptions view.

1. Scroll though the groups of descriptions to a group you want to view.
2. Selectto see all the EDs for the group.
3. Jot down the ED you want to view.
4. Repeat these steps for all EDs you're interested in.
5. When you've found all EDs, select(above the descriptions).

Census schedules view

Let's work from the Census schedules view. You can review the actual pages written by the census enumerator in this view, but you can also copy the pages to your computer. (This is downloading the file.) I suggest downloading the file so you cam work without using the NARA computer resources and so you have your own copy of the census record. Go to the next blog post.

How to access the 1940 Census

1940 Census welcome page

The National Archives released the 1940 U.S. Federal Census on schedule on 2 April 2012. Laws setting up the census—and protecting privacy of those indiiviluals who answered the questions—establish a period of 72 years before the census records can be released. All the previous census records were released on micorfilm, beginning in the 1940s. But now, 70 years later, the records are being released online in files that are easily downloaded for your research whenever you desire.

Here's the most efficient way to make a set of files from the 1940 census.

1. Go to the website for the 1940 census. To do this, select this link to the 1940 census. I have set the link to open the census in another window, so you can follow these steps while you find your first records. Just resize both windows and position them side-by-side.
2. Selectin the three-color bar across the top.
3. Make sure that the Browse tab and the Location circle are selected (as shown).
4. Under State, open the drop-down list and select the state you want.
5. Under County, open the drop-down list and select the county you want. 
6. Select  at the bottom of the block.

You're now ready to find the divisions that were assigned to each person who visited each residence and interviewed your family. These divisions are called enumeration districts (EDs), in the parlance of the U.S. Federal Census. Usually an ED is a township in a county or an electoral ward in a city.

In the next blog post, I guide you in choosing the correct EDs, and later posts guide downloading the whole ED and saving the downloads on your computer.

Happy searching!