52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Week #37 “Mistakes”
Anxiously awaiting the release date of the 1940 census was a test of my patience. I was beyond excited to see all the new genealogical information the census would reveal. On April 2, 2012, the National Archives released the 1940 census to the public after a mandatory 72-year waiting period.[1]
Slowly I began exploring the census records, but it would be a few months before the first index would become available, so I took my time scouring over the census records for the county I was researching. Several of the searches I performed were successful, but I was not able to find my Roundtree family in the county I thought they resided in. I needed that index to hurry!!
Once the index was released, I excitedly typed in the information to search… no results. I tweaked the search criteria… nothing. I typed in every alternate spelling I could think of… nothing. After trying a last name only search (with no results), I used the “wildcard” search technique[2]… nothing. The next several weeks were spent trying every search option possible… still nothing. How many ways was there to spell the name Roundtree???
After searching the index for what seemed like an eternity, I decided to begin a page by page search beginning with the surrounding counties where I thought they may have been living. This process took what seemed like forever, but it finally paid off.
I’m not sure if it was the census taker’s fault or the informant’s misunderstanding, but if I had not done a page by page search, I probably never would have found it. I was beginning to think they must have missed being recorded on the census record.
Pictured above are my great-grandparents, Andrew Lawrence Roundtree and Ila Florence Moody Roundtree. Their children who were living in the household at the time the census was taken were Elsie Aline, Lesley Raymond, Georgia Marie, Reta Fay, Andrew Lawrence Jr and Coy Eugene.
They were listed as the Lawrence Family instead of the Roundtree family. I can just picture the census taker asking my great-grandmother what her husband’s full name was, and her replying “Andrew Lawrence” (stating his first and middle name). The indexer wasn’t a big help either as he misspelled every single name which made it impossible to search. The index showed my grandmother’s name as “Leta Foy”. It very clearly says Reta. I had to laugh when I saw their son’s name “Lawrence Lawrence”. If I were the census taker, I think I might have to ask about that one.
I’ve
had my share of census blunders and have learned a few hard lessons from them. Don’t
believe everything the census shows and if you can’t find them by searching the
index, don’t give up and automatically assume they missed the census. They may
be hiding in plain sight.
Digging Up Roots 
I grumble when the census taker uses a fancy script for T that gets transcribed as an S (Sowers instead of Tower), but your mistake is really bad. Glad you found them.
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I’ve had census taker mistakes like this before and always tell researchers to flip the names in the index, that the head of household’s first name may be listed instead. This is the first of hearing about a middle name being used. Good job searching line by line.
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I was one of the volunteers who indexed the 1940 census. I know I didn’t do that page – I don’t see how anyone thought that was Leta. I can see “Foy” but it seems “Fay” would have been an obvious guess even if the handwriting wasn’t clear. It looks clear to me!
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