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Position:Home>Genealogy> Can a census record be wrong ?Question: Can a census record be wrong !? Hi All-
I was looking up on a census record from 1900 for West Virginia for my great grandmother!. I know her parents names and one of her sister's!. Is it possible for a census record to be wrong!? It does have the sister i knew about listed as well as my great grandmother but has 4 that i wasn't aware of !. is it wrong or did i just find some aunts and uncles i didn't know about !? Carrie Www@QuestionHome@Com Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Oh they are wrong all the time!. There could be a few explanations!. Obviously, you could aunts and uncles you weren't aware of!. You will have to try and cross reference this information to confirm it!. Or they could be cousins!. The best thing to do is take the lead you have and try to follow it!. Find birth records, marriage and death certs!. These usually have parents names on them!. That being said, on ancestry!.com there are several family trees that list Sarah as Sarah Adams!. Timeline 1894 15 Sep Birth Birth Saint Marys, Pleasant Co!., West Virginia 1909 Age: 15 Residence Bet 1909 and 1984 East Liverpool, Columbiana Co!., Ohio 1944 Age: 50 Residence East Liverpool, Columbiana Co!., Ohio 1984 18 Sep Age: 90 Death East Liverpool, Columbiana Co!., Ohio 1984 21 Sep Burial Riverview Cemetery, St!. Clair Ave!., East Liverpool, Columbiana Co!., Ohio Bessie Mae had three children, Earl Jr!., Evelyn Jane b!. 1921 & Paul A!. Jacob Judy b!. 1862 Washington Co!. Ohio d!. 1944 East Liverpool, Ohio On the 1900 census, all those extra children are listed as sons and daughters of Jacob and Sarah!. It also says that Jacob's parents were born in Ohio - that is a clue to work on!. I have one other place I can look and I will post another answer to you!. Hope that helps!. ****If you email me, I can give you the death cert!. number of Jabob Judy!. You could then contact the state and get a copy!. 1870 census 1870 United States Federal Census 1870 United States Federal Census Name: Jacob Judy Estimated Birth Year: abt 1865 Age in 1870: 5 Birthplace: Ohio Home in 1870: Union, Fayette, Ohio Race: White Gender: Male Value of real estate: View Image Post Office: Washington Household Members: Name Age Jacob Judy 25 Ann Judy 22 Jacob Judy 5 1880 Census 1880 United States Federal Census 1880 United States Federal Census Name: Jacob A!. Judy Home in 1880: Union, Fayette, Ohio Age: 14 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1866 Birthplace: Maryland Relation to Head of Household: Son Father's Name: Jacob L!. Father's birthplace: Ohio Mother's Name: Anna Mother's birthplace: Pennsylvania Neighbors: View others on page Occupation: At School Race: White Gender: Male Cannot read/write: Blind: Deaf and dumb: Otherwise disabled: Idiotic or insane: View Image Household Members: Name Age Jacob L!. Judy 37 Anna Judy 30 Jacob A!. Judy 14 Charles Judy 9 Levi Judy 7 Laura Judy 5 Belle Judy 2Www@QuestionHome@Com Hi, Census records can definitely be wrong!. I had one in Maryland that had the names of mother and daughter reversed!. also, the transcriptions can be wrong!. My grandfather's name starts with 'S', but he is listed in ancestry for 1920 census as having a name starting with 'L' And I've found several problems with Jefferson, W VA census records!. Sadly, children passed away relatively often!. I actually had one relative who had had one child named Joseph who passed away and only appears in one year!. Then she named another child Joseph five years later, so he appeared in the next census!. Weird!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Most definitly, yes! A lot of the errors are due to poor penmanship, misspelling, damage to the records (inkspots, smears, etc) and because all the census takers were men, they never asked how the name was spelled or if the name was their correct name and not a nickname!. In your case, could your great-grandmother have been divorced and remarried, or possibly be estranged from her parents!? Do you have her married name!? Another major inaccuracy was if the family was actually Native American, but looked white, the head of the household would not admit to being Native American for several reasons!. One would be if the time was around 1820-1860, when the Native Americans were being forced off their land and sent to Missouri and Oklahoma!. This could also explain differences in names, whether the family was European or Native American!. My great-great-great grandfarther, John Raven, or his wife--or both--were of Native American blood, I am just not able to prove it!. My G-G-G grandpartents seem to always have moved around the census times; which was another way Native American records would be inaccurate!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Yes census records can be wrong!. The other sister and brothers could be half or you could just not have known about them, or they could even be step children to one of your gggrandparents!. There are a number of possibilities!. Just keep researching and you may find the correct answers!.Www@QuestionHome@Com First of all yes they can be wrong!. There are laws now that should assure truth!. You always have the possibility that you do have other family members you weren't aware of!. Keep researching!.Www@QuestionHome@Com any time the government is involved there is a chance of errors occurring, so good luckWww@QuestionHome@Com Yes, you have to understand the census taker had just a few things in mind that were important, getting a head count and obtaining certain information that was wanted during that particular census year!. They had no earthly idea that 100-150 years down the line that people would be pouring over those censuses trying to find their family history!. The other children might be siblings of your great grandmother or they might be children that your great great grandparents opened their home to as the children needed a home!. If so, they are probably kin in some way!. Orphan children usually found homes with relatives!. One possibility of finding the maiden name of your great great grandmother is to find out if the county where your great grandparents were married keeps application for a marriage license!. The application frequently has the names of both parents!. It is a long shot, but you should find out!. also your great grandmother's death certificate will probably give the names of both parents including mother's maiden name!.Www@QuestionHome@Com |