Census Images for the well-known in 1880

The following are the well-known individuals on our 1880 census page. Please feel free to send additions or corrections to mjnrootdig@gmail.com


Jane Addams
Louisa May Alcott
Sherwood Anderson
Susan B. Anthony
Chester Arthur
P. T. Barnum
Maurice, Georgianna, Lionel and Ethel Barrymore
L. L. Bean Billy the Kid
Amelia Bloomer
Edwin Booth
Lizzie Borden
William Jennings Bryan
Adolph Busch
Willa Cather
Butch Cassidy
Samuel Clemens
Buffalo Bill Cody
George M. Cohan
President Calvin Coolidge
Adolph Coors
Clarence Darrow
Jefferson Davis J
ohn Deere
Dalton Family (partial)
Emily Dickinson
John & Horace Dodge of Dodge Motor Company
Frederick Douglass Isadora Duncan -- well-known dancer
George Eastman
Mary Baker Eddy
Thomas Edison
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Marshall Field
W. C. Fields
Harvey Firestone
Henry Ford
John C. Fremont
Robert Frost
President James Garfield
Pat Garrett
Rutherford B. Hayes second enumeration
William Hearst
Henry (H. J.) Heinz
O. Henry
Ulysses Grant
Doc Holliday
Julia Ward Howe
Herbert Hoover
Harry Houdini
Jesse James
Sarah Orne Jewett
Scott Joplin
Eli Lilly
Jack London
Francis Lubbock
Elijah McCoy Herman Melville (author of Moby Dick)
Frederick Miller of Miller Beer
Dwight Moody
Thomas Nast
Carrie Nation
Adolph Ochs (later NY Times owner)
Frederick Pabst
Potter Palmer
J. C. Penney
Allen Pinkerton
C. W. Post Joseph Pulitizer
George Pullman
Charles Ringling
Theodore Roosevelt Carl Sandburg
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Annie Sullivan
the Sundance Kid (Harry Longabaugh)
Billy Sunday
Levi Strauss

Gustavus Swift
President William Howard Taft
Tom Thumb
Sojourner Truth
Harriet Tubman
John D. Rockefeller
August Uihlein
Henry Uihlein
Charles Walgreen
Booker Washington
Honus wagner
Edith Wharton
Walt Whitman
F. W. Woolworth
Frank Lloyd Wright -- the second enumeration
Wright Brothers
William Wrigley
George Westinghouse
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Cy Young
Florenz Ziegfeld

Subscribers to Ancestry.com or Heritagequest.com can serach there.
If you don't have ancestry.com and decide to get it, please read our free trial suggestions first.

Famous People in the 1870 Census

The following is our current list of well-known people in the 1870 census. Submissions, corrections, etc. can be sent to me at mjnrootdig.com@gmail.com .
Jane Addams
Louisa May Alcott
Beer Brewer Eberhard Anheuser
Phillip Armour
Future President Chester Arthur
P T Barnum
Beer Brewer Valentine Blatz
Amelia Bloomer
Nellie Bly
Lizzie Borden
Siamese Twin Chang Bunker
Siamese Twin Eng Bunker
Buffalo Bill Cody
George Custer
Jefferson Davis
John Deere
Emily Dickinson
Frederick Douglass
Wyatt Earp
George Eastman
Ralph Emerson
Marshall Field
Harvey Firestone
Henry Ford
Future President James Garfield
President in 1870 U. S. Grant
Horace Greeley
Future President Warren Harding
Future President Rutherford Hayes
Author O. Henry
Milton Hershey
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Henry James
Author Sarah Orne Jewett
Former President Andrew Johnson
Scott Joplin
Robert E. Lee
Cyrus McCormick
Elijah McCoy
Future President William McKinley
Herman Melville
Beer Brewer Frederick Miller of Miller Beer
Dwight Moody
Samuel Morse
Grandma Moses
Thomas Nast
Carrie NationFrederick Pabst
Potter Palmer
Robert E. PearyAllen Pinkerton
George Pullman
Richard Sears
John D. Rockefeller
John P. Sousa
Albert Spalding
Beer Brewer Joseph Schlitz
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Harriett Beecher Stowe
Beer Brewer Bernard Stroh of Stroh's Beer
the Sundance Kid
Billy Sunday
President William Howard Taft
Mark Twain
President Theodore Roosevelt
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Wright Brothers
Levi Strauss
Henry David Thoreau
William "Boss" Tweed
Cornelius Vanderbilt
George Westinghouse
Walt Whitman
Frank Lloyd Wright
William Wrigley
Cy Young
Florenz Ziegfield

Subscribers to Ancestry.com or Heritagequest.com can serach there.
If you don't have ancestry.com and decide to get it, please read our free trial suggestions first.

My airline experience

My seminar in Virginia Beach this past weekend went extremely well. My flight experience on 30 March from Moline, Illinois, did not. The name of the airline shall not be included in this post.

I was booked on a flight from Moline, Illinois, leaving around 6:00 in the evening on Friday. Upon arrival at the airport, I was told my flight had been cancelled THURSDAY--the day before. They had my work phone number to use to notify me. No calls. No voicemails. No automatic notices. I was told that the call was not made due to a "looping" error. I checked my flight status online Thursday night (around 8:00 p.m.) and again online on Friday over lunch (around 12:30). Both times it indicated my flight was still a "go" and departing/arriving at the times/places as I was originally told. I fly a great deal and when I've had flights cancelled before like this, I have been notified BEFORE I got to the airport, especially when the flight is cancelled the day before I leave.


Upon checkin at the Moline, Illinois airport I was told my flight was cancelled and that there was absolutely no flight into Norfolk or Newport News on Friday. I was told I was not going to get there on Friday. I begged to differ--I was going to get there on Friday. After nearly an hour, the nearest they could get me was Reagan airport in Washington DC. The ticket agent was EXTREMELY helpful and accomodating. I arrived at midnight and was just lucky to get a car and in order to drive nearly 4 hours. Had the airline had the courtesy of notifying me even Friday morning I could have made alternate arrangements that would not have required car rental, a long drive, and 2.5 hours of sleep.

Of course trying to contact this particular airlines in order to make a complaint has been EXCEEDINGLY difficult. But we will keep trying. And we will get some satisfaction besides the $35 flight voucher and the free drink coupon I was given for my troubles.

Despite all the frustration, the seminar in VA Beach went off with out a hitch--my arrival difficulties were the only problems and the VA Beach group is a great one with which to work.

Famous 1860 census images

We have 1860 census images for the following on our site for free viewing:

Louisa May Alcott
Eberhard Anheuser
Susan B. Anthony
Chester Arthur
P T Barnum
Phillip Best-
Amelia Bloomer
John Wilkes Booth
then President James Buchanan
Chang and Eng Bunker (famous Siamese twins)
Kit Carson
Andrew Carnegie
Buffalo Bill Cody
George Custer
Jefferson Davis
John Deere
Emily Dickinson
Frederick Douglass
Thomas Edison
Wyatt Earp
George Eastman
Ralph Emerson
James Garfield
Ulysses S Grant
Benjamin Harrison
Rutherford B. Hayes
Doc Holliday
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Elias Howe
Sam Houston--Texas Pioneer
Jesse James
Calamity Jane (Martha Cannary)
future president Andrew Johnson
Adam Lemp
Robert E. Lee in Virginia
Robert E. Lee in Texas
President Abraham Lincoln
Frances Lubbock--Texas Pioneer
Cyrus McCormick
Herman Melville
Clement Moore
Samuel Morse
Samuel Mudd
Franklin Pierce
Allen Pinkerton
George Pullman
John D. Rockefeller
President Theodore Roosevelt
Joseph Schlitz
Harriet Beecher Stowe
John Philip Sousa
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Belle Starr
Albert Spalding
Mary Surratt
John Sutter of Sutter's Mill
President William Howard Taft
Henry David Thoreau
Sojourner Truth Boss Tweed
John Tyler
Martin Van Buren
Montgomery Ward
Walt Whitman

Suggestions can be sent to me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com
Those who have access to the census online are welcome to send us additional references. Those who don't have a subscription to Ancestry.com can read our free-trial suggestions here before joining.

Famous People in the 1850 Census

This is a listing of our current "famous" people in the 1850 census. Feel free to browse or submit additional suggestions to mjnrootdig@gmail.com

Louisa May Alcott
Horatio Alger
Susan B. Anthony
Chester Arthur
P. T. Barnum
Philip Best
Amelia Bloomer
John Wilkes Booth
Chang and Eng Bunker (Siamese twins)
Andrew Carnegie
Kit Carson
Buffalo Bill Cody
George Custer
Jefferson Davis
John Deere
Emily Dickinson
Abner Doubleday
Frederick Douglass
Thomas Edison
Wyatt Earp
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Marshall Field
Millard Fillmore
Ulysses S Grant
Benjamin Harrison
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Elias Howe
Sam Houston
Henry James

Jesse James
Andrew Johnson
Robert E. Lee
Abraham Lincoln
Henry Longfellow
Cyrus McCormick
William McKinley
Clement Moore
Samuel Morse
Dr. Samuel Mudd
Franklin Pierce
John Rockefeller
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Belle Starr
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Mary Surratt
John Sutter
Zachary Taylor
Henry David Thoreau
Sojourner Truth
Mark Twain
Mark Twain the second time!
Boss Tweed
President Martin Van Buren
Montgomery Ward
James Whistler
Walt Whitman

"Stalking Strangers DNA"

The New York Times ran a piece today on "Stalking Strangers DNA" which has also been posted on the Herald Tribune's website. I'm all for genealogy, as anyone well knows. However, I don't think anyone should be forced to give up their DNA, much as someone would not be forced to show me an old family bible or other heirlooms and memorabilia. Given the current uses of DNA, which indicate a direct line male or direct line female relationships, the situations where DNA are really helpful are not all that many.

Time would be better spent on preserving paper records that have not been microfilmed or digitized. We stand to lose all the Union Civil War pensions if they are not preserved in some fashion. DNA provides some evidence of a connection, but still does not provide the vast body of personal history and insight that other records and materials do.

And not to mention...the article makes genealogists look a little nutty.

Virginia Beach Seminar

A big thanks to those who came to the seminar held at the Virginia Beach Library on Saturday hosted by the Virginia Beach Genealogical Society. I had a great time and hope everyone else did as well. As most of you know though, I am extremely tired this evening.

The page of links will get posted tomorrow. There is a slight problem with something and I'll get it fixed in the morning and uploaded.

Thanks to the Society for having me present at their conference.

Michael

1910 Census Images--Rich and Famous

Our Rich and Famous in the 1910 census pages, include links to images of these well known people in the 1910 census. Suggestions for additions can be sent to me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com

Ansel Adams
Jane Addams
Eddie Albert
Sherwood Anderson
Philip Armour
Fred Astaire
Count Basie
Clyde Barrow of Bonnie and Clyde
Alexander Graham Bell
Jack Benny
Milton Berle
Irving Berlin
Edwin Binney
Humphrey Bogart
Lizzie Borden
George Burns
Busch Beer Family Hugh Brannum
William Jennings Bryan
Jimmy Cagney
Al Capone
Rachel Carson
Willa Cather
Frank Capra
Anton Cermak
George M. Cohan (one)
George M. Cohan (two)
Adolph Coors
Actress Joan Crawford
Bing Crosby
e e cummings
Richard Daley
Bette Davis
Francis Dee
John Dillinger
Walt Disney
Horace Dodge
John Dodge
Amelia Earhart
Wyatt Earp
George Eastman
Thomas Edison
Duke Ellington
Dwight Eisenhower
Douglas Fairbanks
William Faulkner
Harvey Firestone
Henry Ford
Baseball Great Lou Gehrig
Children's Author Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss)
Ira and George Gershwin
Author O. Henry
Katharine Hepburn
Oliver Wendell Holmes
J. Edgar Hoover
Howard Hughes
Langston Hughes
Lyndon Johnson
Scott Joplin
Helen Keller
Gene Krupa
William Lemp
Charles Lindbergh
Jack London
Jack London
Huey Long
Oscar Mayer
Joe McCarthy
Barbara McClintock
Elijah McCoy
H. L. Mencken
Ethel Merman
James Michener
Edward R. Murrow
Ogden Nash
Georgia O'Keefe
Louella Parsons
Norman Vincent Peale
J. C. Penney
Cole Porter
Katherine Anne Porter
C W Post
Marjorie Merriweather Post
Charles Ringling
Tex Ritter
John D. Rockefeller
Sigmund Romberg
Franklin Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Babe Ruth
Carl Sandburg
Randolph Scott
Richard Sears
John Shedd
John Phillip Sousa
John Steinbeck
Jimmie Stewart
then President William Taft
Spencer Tracy
President Harry Truman
Mark Twain
Montgomery Ward
Booker T. Washington
Charles Walgreen
Montgomery Ward
John Wayne
Mae West
George Westinghouse
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Woodrow Wilson
Grant Wood
Wright Brothers
Frank Lloyd Wright
N C Wyeth
Cy Young
Florenz Ziegfeld

1900 Census Images of Rich and Famous

Here is a listing of all the rich and famous census images on our site from 1900. Suggestions for additions can be sent to me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com

Jane Addams

Sherwood Anderson
Susan B. Anthony
Phillip Armour
Amelia Earhart
Fred Astaire
Jack Benny
Humphrey Bogart
William Jennings Bryan
Joseph Bulova
George Burns
August Busch
James (Jimmy) Cagney
Al Capone
Willa Cather
Anton Cermak
Lon Chaney
Samuel Clemens--Mark Twain
Grover Cleveland
Walter Chrysler
Ty Cobb
Buffalo Bill Cody
Adolph Coors
Hart Crane
Clarence Darrow
Jack Dempsey
Melville Dewey
Horace Dodge
George Eastman
Mary Baker Eddy
Duke Ellington
Wyatt Earp
Thomas Edison
Dwight Eisenhower
T. S. Eliot
William Faulkner
Marshall Field
Harvey Firestone
Henry Ford
J. Paul Getty
Josiah Gibbs
Oscar Hammerstein
Benjamin Harrison

Ernest Hemingway
Henry Heinz
O. Henry
Oliver Wendell Holmes

Herbert Hoover

J. Edgar Hoover

Sarah Orne Jewett

Scott Joplin
Helen Keller
Jerome Kern
William Lemp
Jack London
Huey P. Long

the Marx Brothers
Oscar Mayer
Elijah McCoy
William McKinley
H. L. Mencken
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Georgia O'Keefe
Louella Parsons
Potter Palmer
George Patton
Norman Vincent Peale
J. C. Penney
Cole Porter
Katherine Anne Porter -- with her father
Katherine Anne Porter-- with her grandmother
C W Post
William Rand
Charles Ringling
Robert Ripley
the Rockefellers
Knute Rockne
Norman Rockwell
Theodore Roosevelt
Babe Ruth
Carl Sandburg
Randolph Scott
Richard Sears
Gustavus Swift
Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Billy Sunday
James Thurber
Jim Thorpe
Spencer TracyHarry Truman
Mark Twain
Honus Wagner
Charles Walgreen
Montgomery Ward
Booker T. Washington

Mae West
George Westinghouse
E. B. White
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Woodrow Wilson
Grant Wood
Wright Brothers
Frank Lloyd Wright
N. C. Wyeth
Cy Young

Jimmy Stewart in 1930

Actor Jimmy Stewart was living in Indiana, Pennsylvania in 1930 with his family as partially shown in the image included in this post. The 21 year old is listed without an occupation and his father runs a hardware store.

You can search of the 1930 census at Ancestry.com and see what your relatives are up to--hopefully they aren't living in a town that is also the name of a state (Illinois has a town named Oregon and one named Ohio) .If you don't have a subscription to Ancestry.com, you can read our suggestions for a 14 day free trial here.

Malcolm X in the 1930 Census

He might have been easier to find had his last name in 1930 been "X" instead of the much more common Little. Black activist Malcolm X and his family are living in Lansing, Michigan in 1930 as the partial image on the right show.

You can search of the 1930 census at Ancestry.com and see what names your relatives as listed with--however, it usually helps your search if you know the last name before you find them. If you don't have a subscription, you can read our suggestions for a 14 day free trial here.

President Harry Truman Lives with in-laws

The 1920 census finds future president Harry S Truman living with his wife's parents the Wallaces in Jackson County, Missouri. His occupation is listed as farm manager.

The 1920 United States Federal Census can be searched for your relative at Ancestry.com, regardless of whom they were living with. Those who don't have a subscription can read our free-trial suggestions here.

1920 Census--Perry Como

I didn't think Perry Como's real name was "Perry Como," but sure enough, it was. He and his family were living in Washington County, Pennsylvania in 1920 as shown in the image to the right. The complete image indicates the family immigrated in 1910 and that Como's older siblings were born in Italy.

The 1920 United States Federal Census can be searched for your relative at Ancestry.com. Those who don't have a subscription can read our free-trial suggestions here.

Bureau County Presentation--Links

I enjoyed presenting for the group in Bureau County last night (29 March) in Princeton, Illinois. Based upon conversations I had with a few attendees, I have posted the following links here as they were asked about and I either could not remember them or was not certain.

WW2 Enlistment search at the National Archives
http://aad.archives.gov/aad/series-description.jsp?s=3360&bc=sd

Genealogy in the United Kingdom and Ireland
http://www.genuki.org.uk/

Cyndislist--Migrations
http://www.cyndislist.com/migration.htm

Erie Canal
http://www.history.rochester.edu/canal/
http://www.eriecanal.org/

Canadian Border Crossings Added to Ancestry.com

Border Crossing Records Added to Ancestry.com---for those who may be interested.

Ancestry.com announced the addition of more than 4 million names of individuals who crossed the U.S.-Canadian border between 1895 and 1956. These historical records are the latest addition to Ancestry.com’s Immigration Records Collection, which also includes more than 100 million names from the largest online collection of U.S. passenger lists, spanning 1820 to 1960.

Of course, there are no border crossing records for the time period I need them....1850s-1860s. I would love to know when William Ira Sargent crossed and when the family of Samuel Neill left New Brunswick. Oh well, some things will always remain mysteries.

Migration Chains

I've been thinking quite a bit about migration chains lately, largely because I'm giving three lectures about it in less than a month. And also because I realized that another of my families was part of a larger migration chain I was unaware of until recently.

Genealogists sometimes make the incorrect assumption that chains of migration only apply to non-English speaking immigrants. Nothing could be further from the truth. Of course, all of my German immigrants from 1860-1888 were parts of migration chains and this has been relatively easy to document. My wife has immigrants from Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, and Quebec from the same time period and every one was part of a larger migration chain which we were eventually able to document. Even my Irish Neills were part of a larger group that I only recently discovered.

But "natives" also moved in chains---and they can be discovered if one takes the time. My Newmans from Kentucky into Indiana, Illinois, and eventually Iowa were part of a group that moved over a fifty some year time period. Other families moved from Amherst County, Virginia to Bourbon County, Kentucky over a twenty year time period in the very early eighteenth century.

Take the time to look for your ancestor's chain of migration.

Finding Peter, Paul, and Margarete

This article focuses on a group of immigrants to Davenport, Iowa in the 1850s. My search initially focused on Paul Freund, the direct ancestor. The article discusses how in this case, locating immigrant origins was possible only by COMPLETELY researching the immigrant in his new location first. This plan gave me adequate information in order to locate the desired family members in passenger lists. The problem with looking for just Paul Freund is that there were several Paul Freunds from Bavaria who came to the United States.

Those who want to read more about my search for Peter, Paul, and Margarete can do so here. And anyone who is related is more than welcome to send me an email at mjnrootdig@gmail.com.

Henry Thoreau in 1860

I learned a little something in locating Henry Thoreau in the 1860 census--his occupation was not what I expected. Admittedly, I knew little about Thoreau before I searched for him in 1860. We've posted the entire image which shows him living with other family members in Concord, New Hampshire.

Search the 1860 Census at Ancestry.com for your relative---whose occupation in 1860 may or may not be a surptise to you. If you don't have a subscription, you can read our suggestions for a 14 day free trial here.

Gender Changing in 1860

The 1860 census taker listed him as a 12 year old male named Georgia Eastman--but it clearly George Eastman who later founded Eastman Kodak. The 12 year old is living with his family in Oneida County, New York.

Search the 1860 Census at Ancestry.com for your relative---who may have had his gender accidentally changed by a census taker--it's a little early for more permanent kinds of gender changes. If you don't have a subscription, you can read our suggestions for a 14 day free trial here.

From Poor Leather Merchant to General

The 1860 census finds future US General U S Grant living in Galena, Illinois as a leather merchant with personal property valued at $200. He would shortly have a different occupation.

Search the 1860 Census at Ancestry.com for your relative---whose occupation in 1860 may or may not be a surptise to you. If you don't have a subscription, you can read our suggestions for a 14 day free trial here.

1850 Census Harriet Beecher Stowe

The 1850 census finds Harriet Beecher Stowe living with her husband Calvin and her family in Brunswick, Maine. Uncle Tom's Cabin had yet to be published.

Those with an Ancestry.com subscription can search the 1850 Census--everyname index for their own relatives--who probably were not writing books that started wars (which is what President Abraham Lincoln remarked to Stowe about her book). Those who don't have a subscription can read our free-trial suggestions here.

Frederick Douglass in the 1850 census

1850 finds Frederick Douglass living as a 33 year old editor in Rochester, New York, with his family. We've posted the complete image on our site.

Those with an Ancestry.com subscription can search the 1850 Census--everyname index for their own relatives--who may or may not have been editing things. Those who don't have a subscription can read our free-trial suggestions here.

Making Colors in 1910

There were probably very few in the 1910 census who listed their occupation as manufacturers of "colors, etc," but Edwin Binney did. He was the founder of Crayola Crayons. I just wonder what the "etc" stood for.
You can search the 1910 United States Federal Census for your own relatives at Ancestry.com regardless of what color was involved with their employment. If you don't have a subscription to Ancestry.com, you can read our suggestions for a 14 day free trial here.

Count Basie in the 1910 Census

He was probably still learning how to count himself, but the 1910 census found the future Count Basie living with his parents in New Jersey as a six year old.

You can search the 1910 United States Federal Census for your own relatives at Ancestry.com. If you don't have a subscription, you can read our suggestions for a 14 day free trial here.

1880 Female Head of Household

It is unusual to find a female listed as the head of the household, especially when her able-bodied husband is living with her and enumerated as well. The initial article I wrote on this subject generated a great deal of response and the follow up dealt with most issues presented by readers.

My ancestor in 1880 is a head of household and her husband is listed as the last member in the household (on the next page, no less). It is a somewhat unusual situation.

Part of the entry for the family of Anna Fecht in Prairie Township, Hancock County, Illinois' 1880 census follows.

Anna Fecht, aged 65, [head], married
John Habben, aged 20, son, single
George Habben, aged 18, son, single
Anna Habben, aged 13, daughter, single
Mattie Halts, aged 10, granddaughter, single
George Fecht, aged 12, stepson, single
Henry Fecht, aged 65, no relationship stated, married


Part I of the article can be viewed here and part II has been posted on our site as well.