9 Search Tips for Locating Your Long Lost Ancestor Within the Census

Working with genealogy research, there are times you probably want to pull your hair out. Searching for an individual in the census can be one of those times. I have a great-great grandfather that goes missing for 2 years and for 10 years now I still can't find out what happened to his during that time of his life. There are several reasons that people go missing from the census. The census takers could of overlook or skipped the individual but more often it's an indexing error. Here are some tips for locating those hard to find ancestors.

Soundex
If there is a soundex option it is the best way to pick up the alternated spellings of a name but it may not pick up all. Many surnames have common variation of the same name but they can have different soundex codes. So by adding one letter or taking away one letter within the surname, it can be missed.

Your best bet is to do a wildcard search. Some of the search engines with census list will let you substitute symbols, these are called wildcards, and they represent the unknown letters at the end of a word.

For example on Ancesrty.com it will allow you to us * for the letters you don't know at the end of a word for example Smith you might get Smiths. Another symbol you can use is the ? which is used to represent the unknown letters within a word. For example M?lls would bring you Mills, Mylls or Sto* would get you Stone or Stowe.

Nicknames
When the census taker came around it was not uncommon for family members to use nick names for family members. You could find an individuals nickname on one census and there nickname in another. You have to be familiar with all nicknames that come from the formal names, like Thomas, (Tom), Mary, (Polly), Samuel, (Sam). As you go down the generations you will find that names were used over and over again including nicknames.

Middle names
Most people don't even think to check middle names. Middle names are not commonly used today like they were in the past. Many families named there children with the same first names but called them by there middle names; all middle names were different. When searching by middle names play close attention to the other family members names. By just searching middle names you can end up in another family all together.

Initials
The census takers were known to just us the first letter of the individuals name because they didn't know how to spell it or were just lazy and didn't want to write. Initials were used for first and/or middle names. Also pay close attention to the letter its self. My great-great grandfather's middle name was Overton. On some census the census taker put an O and it looks like a C. His first name was James so I have found it J.O., and J.C.

Surname and Location
If you know for sure where your ancestor was living but you can't find him then search by using the surname only. Narrow your search by using the state, county, town or district so you are not wasting your time wading through unnecessary census. This is also a good way of finding other relatives within the same location.

Siblings and other family members
Don't forget while you are searching for that long lost ancestor keep your eye open for other family members, siblings and children. Some census were pretty old when scanned and put on line or your reading them from the library. Your long lost ancestor name could be almost illegible but his or her sibling was perfectly legible.

Neighbors
Neighbors can often solve the mystery. You discover that your ancestors lived in a certain place for several years and had the same neighbors during those years. In searching the next census look for the names of there neighbors, once you find them then search all of there neighbors, you might get lucky!

No Name at all
You don't have to search by first, middle, or last name at all. Just put in the county, state and the year you are searching for; there birth place and year if you know it and this will narrow down your search. This will either locate your ancestor right away or you will have to take your time and search the list that is brings up.

Woman
Looking for a woman can be the hardest thing to find. You know her first name but not her last if she has remarried several time. Try her first name, date of birth and place, you might just find her!