The question posed was; Have you found your family in the 1940 Census?
Indeed, I found my mother and her parents and two sibling in the 1940 Census.
I thought the task of finding them would be daunting,this family lived in Cleveland Ohio, but Mom recalled what street they lived on in Cleveland. Which made for a quick and easy find!
Before talking to Mom I thought this would be a task that just might take forever so, I started looking for my Dad and his parents where I thought they belonged. I picked them first because I figured how many folks could live in Newark, Licking County Ohio the population has got to be less then that of Cleveland! How is that what you think the task is going to be easy, isn’t. In this house long ago we have decided not to say that word, when you do it only means things will be difficult at best. I guess I haven’t learned yet!
I have now looked through all Licking County. No grandparents, oh I did find her sister and her husband Uncle Tommy and Aunt Flossie, right where I thought they would be. I talked to Mom and said she believed that I might find them in Willoughby Ohio as she thought they might have lived there before they lived in Kirtland (which I have looked through too). I have only looked through a few Enumeration Districts in Willoughby. I have not found them yet. So I need to make a phone call and see if my Dad recalls where they lived in Willoughby, he would have been 3 in 1940 and I am not sure if he will recall, but it sure is worth a shot!
I was lucky indeed to find that my Grandparents in Cleveland actually ended up on the line that contained the supplemental question. In this case it was Grandpa Terrill. The extra questions asked included the birth place of your mother and father, what is your normal occupation. They also asked four questions about military service, which grandpa did not answer. Another grouping of questions pertained to social security. The information that he gave were things we already knew. He was a chemist and his parents were born in Ohio and Pennsylvania and that he did have a social security number. Had it been another member of the family there might have been new information that we may not have known.
I would encourage those who to help index the 1940, it will make it some easier to search and the more folks that index the sooner you and others will be able to find their family easier. Visit 1940 Census Community Project and sign up. It is really very easy and you can do as much or as little as you like, there is no pressure to make a quota.
In the mean time
Happy Hunting!
