52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - In the Census

"In the census" is a great topic. Ten years later, I distinctly remember that goosebumpy feeling I got finding family in census records for the first time. I was building my first tree on Ancestry without a paid membership when I finally got a "shaky leaf" for a record that was free to access; the 1860 U.S. Census. I clicked and there was my great-grandfather, George Smith (in yellow below), only five months old, enumerated with his parents, Benjamin and Mary Ann, and five of his six siblings, just as they were listed in the family Bible!

With so much family living in Quebec, I soon discovered that Canadian census records could be accessed for free at Library and Archives Canada and I was really off to the races. Like the U.S. Census, early Canadian records only identified the head of household by name with tick marks for the ages of the rest of the family, but later censuses asked more detailed questions, including something not asked here in the U.S. - religion.

In these census records, I have encountered Methodists, Anglicans, Congregationalists and Presbyterians, denominations that are known to me. I have also encountered denominations that are less-well-known and unknown to me like F.W.C. (Free Will Christian) Baptists, Plymouth Brethren and ancestors enumerated as "Fellowship."

I found this so interesting, especially when combined with the fact that some of my ancestors were enumerated with different answers from one census to the next, that I started a spreadsheet to help me study this more closely (click to enlarge). The spreadsheet isn't finished obviously, but writing this post has put it back on my active to-do list.

I think that some of the back and forth is probably just incorrect; either the enumerator assumed that everyone in the household was of the same denomination or the head of household told the enumerator that was the case. And then, of course, some of the women may have changed denominations after marriage.

I wish I could say that having this information led me to other records, like the "missing" burial records for Elizabeth Louden, my 3rd great-grandmother and Elizabeth Nimmo, her daughter, but this hasn't helped in that regard so far. But who knows where this information might lead me once I have filled everything in here that I can.

If I do come to any interesting conclusions once this is finished, I will be sure to let you know.

Tip: Can't read a Canadian census image? Ancestry and Library & Archives Canada don't use the same images of Canadian census records (except 1921 which is not on the LAC website). If you are having trouble with an image on either platform, try the other to see if the image is more clear. It has worked for me more than once!

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1860 U.S. Census, Newark Ward 5, Essex County, New Jersey; population schedule p. 252, dwelling 1612/family 2208. George Smith; digital image Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed January 31, 2018); citing NARA microfilm publication M653.

1911 Census of Canada, Danville, District of Richmond and Wolfe, Quebec; populations schedule p. 8, dwelling 66/family 81. Elizabeth Dean; digital image Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed January 31, 2018); citing Statistics Canada Fonds microfilm reels T-20326 to T-20460.