Is That Really Julius Cawiezell's Boarder?

Index entries and database transcriptions can be misleading. This entry for Julius Cawiezel from the 1930 census database at FamilySearch.org is a case in point. 

Looking at the entry for Julius, it appears as if the 64-year old has a 12-year old boarder living with him.

It seems pretty straightforward. Arnold could easily be a grandson living with his grandfather. Not exactly. Arnold is not even living with Julius.

A look at the actual 1930 census entry for Julius indicates that the boarder Arnold Klaus is not actually living in the Cawiezel household. Cawiezell is living at 716 1/2 West 1st Street in Davenport, Iowa. The address for the 12-year old boarder appears to be 927 West 3rd Street along with a notation.

1930 U. S. Census, city of Davenport, Scott County, Iowa, ED 11 Sheet 2A, obtained digitally on   Ancestry.com

Increasing the magnification on the image indicates that the Klaus entry has been "squeezed in" after Cawiezel's entry and is not a part of his household. In fact, the notation on the left-hand side is a reference to where Klaus' entry should be--line 43 on sheet 9A.

The notation does not apparently mean that the entry should have been on line 43, but instead is a reference to the household in which Arnold should have been listed. Note that the address is correct--927 can be seen as the house number.

1930 U. S. Census, city of Davenport, Scott County, Iowa, ED 11 Sheet 9A, obtained digitally on   Ancestry.com

There is a notation to the left of the entry that there is "1-Boarder" and that the reference is to line 12 on Sheet 2A. That is where Arnold is listed right after Cawiezell.

Always look at the original. In cases like this the database just does not contain all the information because annotations such as these do not "fit the form."

In this case, it was assumed by the transcriber that the boarder listed after a "head of household" was actually living in that household. In reality, the head of household was on an entirely different page.