The 1940 Census

[MooseMom]

Oh, this is so cool!

You may have heard that the National Archives have just downloaded the 1940 US Census onto their site, and you can go and look at the actual documents.

http://1940census.archives.gov/

I happened to remember the name of the street my grandparents lived on when I was a little girl, so working on the assumption that they lived there in 1940 (almost 20 years before I was born), I searched for them and was able to find their names along with my dad's, right there on the census form, handwritten by some long-forgotten census person.  It's a glimpse into the past.  So if you're interested, go and have a look, and for those of you who were around for the 1940 census, you just might find yourself.  If you DO find yourself or a family member, come and post about it!

[YLGuy]

Too funny! I was just looking at the town I grew up in in Connecticut.  I found my mother, my grandparents and my great grandparents listed.  The town had grown from 600 in 1930 to a whopping 1053 residents in 1940.  It showed that my grandfather was a farmer. In 1940 my grandmother had only 3 of her 6 children.

[MooseMom]

Too funny! I was just looking at the town I grew up in in Connecticut.  I found my mother, my grandparents and my great grandparents listed.  The town had grown from 600 in 1930 to a whopping 1053 residents in 1940.  It showed that my grandfather was a farmer. In 1940 my grandmother had only 3 of her 6 children.

Oh, that's really interesting!  So you grew up in the same town that your great-grandparents had lived it?  That must have made your search a lot easier!

[gothiclovemonkey]

I Found my Grandpa, and his parents! I almost passed them up because I didnt think my Grandpa was so young then!! Its so awesome to see that!!!
I also found his future wife, my Grandma, and her parents too!
I couldnt find my other family members I looked for, maybe they didnt fill it out, or something? Maybe they didnt live here yet... I know that my Gpa on moms side is from Boston, no idea where, so Im not sure when they came here... Idk!

That was fun though! Thank you!! I love learning stuff like this. Its amazing!

[YLGuy]

Too funny! I was just looking at the town I grew up in in Connecticut.  I found my mother, my grandparents and my great grandparents listed.  The town had grown from 600 in 1930 to a whopping 1053 residents in 1940.  It showed that my grandfather was a farmer. In 1940 my grandmother had only 3 of her 6 children.

Oh, that's really interesting!  So you grew up in the same town that your great-grandparents had lived it?  That must have made your search a lot easier!

Yes. My 2 oldest children went to Kindergarten in the same classroom that I went to Kindergarten in which was the same classroom my mother did as well.  In the hall of the elementary school is a picture of a 1 room schoolhouse and my grandfather is a young boy in the picture.  There is a park in town named after him.

[jbeany]

It was common knowledge in the family that my dad was not his father's biological child.  Couldn't be - not when he was the only tall, dark-haired, olive skinned, skinny boy in a family of short, squat, pudgy, and pale kids.  Gram confessed to one of my uncles on her deathbed that she had been sleeping with a neighbor.  (Well, duh.)  The info I got third-hand from my step-mother after my father died was that the man was Greek.

Maybe, but the census shows that two years before my dad's conception, the only Mediterranean family near the little town they lived in was Italian.  Everyone else was either English, Polish, French, or Dutch.  Salvadore Lentini, age 52, was married with three kids.  The real question, of course, is was it him or his 28 year old son Carmello?

Such fun!  And don't I just wish the census at the time had pictures attached....this family nose would be hard to miss! 

[MooseMom]

Ooooh, a 1940 Census mystery!!!