Last month, we discussed how to locate an ancestor in the 1930 U.S. census.

Because more than 123 million people were enumerated in this census, most people can find a parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent in it. And because of the wealth of information it holds, it’s a great place to start searching for your family. (Read last month’s article on finding someone in the 1930 U.S. census.)

Another great thing about the 1930 U.S. census is that it holds numerous clues that can lead you to other records. Let’s look at some sample census records for 1930 and see what hints they offer us.

Tracing Back Through the Censuses: 1930, 1920, 1910, etc. . . .
In last month’s article, we looked up Frank Sinatra as a young man living in Hoboken, New Jersey, in the 1930 U.S. census. Since federal censuses were taken every ten years, we should be able to find Frank and his family in the 1920 census, 1910 census, and so forth.

Let’s start a search in the 1920 census. (To get there from the homepage, click the “Search” tab; “Census and Voter Lists” in the “Featured” box on the left-hand side of the page; and then “1920 United States Federal Census.” Note: These directions work only for the new Search page.)

Start by entering “Frank” in the “First Name” field and “Sinatra” in the “Last Name” field. Click “Search.”

Several “Frank Sinatra’s” show up at the top of the search results, but none of their other information looks correct.

Some of the Frank Sinatras on this search results page were born in the late 1800s, but from the age given in the 1930 census—14—we know that Frank Sinatra was born around 1916.

Other Frank Sinatras in the search results are shown living in Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, etc. These are possibilities, but the 1930 census tells me he was born in New Jersey, so it’s probable he will be living in New Jersey five years later—in 1920—as well. Especially since he’s still living there in 1930, according to that census.

The first entry that catches my eye is about half-way down the page—the date of birth is listed as 1915 and the location is Hoboken, New Jersey. But the name is “Frank Souatri.”

We can learn from outside biographical information that Natalie’s middle name was actually Della. This is one instance where having some information outside of what you find in the 1930 census itself can come in handy. Sometimes, if you get stuck, talking to other family can help you get past these kinds of roadblocks; they may be familiar with nicknames or other information you don’t know.

Notice that there is also a small icon of a cloud and a plus sign by the name “Frank Souatri.” This (and the yellow triangle you sometimes see by a name) means that another researcher has seen this record and suggested an alternate name because they think the census taker or indexers mis-transcribed it. Roll over the icon with your mouse and you’ll see the alternate name.

In this case, the alternate name is “Frank Sinatra.” That means someone else looked at the original record and thought it read “Frank Sinatra” instead of “Frank Souatri.” That’s a good sign.

Look at the original yourself (click “View Record,” then “View original image”). Does it look like “Sinatra” to you?

Because the enumerator’s handwriting was poor (and he seems to have spelled phonetically and accidentally dotted the final “a” in the name), you can see how this was misread as “Souatri.” But, since all the other clues match up, it seems fairly reasonable that this is the right Frank and family.
 
 
Sometimes being a family history detective requires working around poor enumerators’ handwriting or mistakes made by transcribers. That’s why it’s important to try different spellings and search combinations.

Since Frank was born in 1915, he won’t show up in the 1910 census, but his parents should. However, Anthony will only be about 15 and Natalie about 13. They will probably be living with their parents.

Can you find them? You may have to do a little detective work. (Hint: Anthony’s parents were named Anthony Martin and Rose Sinatra and Natalie’s maiden name was Garaventi. Anthony Martin was born in 1892.)

Immigration Records
Besides helping you locate your family in other census records, the 1930 census can lead you to immigration records, such as passenger lists, passport applications, or naturalization records.

For instance, Juliana Smith, a seasoned genealogist, shared this example in a recent webinar we hosted for beginners titled "Getting Started on Ancestry.com" (click here to see an archive of this and other webinars). The example demonstrates how she used information from the 1930 census on her great-grandfather, John Szucs, to find him in a passenger list from Hungry.

Here’s his record in the 1930 U.S. census. Column 22 indicates that John came to America in 1902; Column 23 indicates that he has been naturalized (“Na”). 

Armed with this new information, Juliana went to the Immigration Collection on the site. (To get there from the homepage, click the “Search” tab; then click “Immigration and Emigration” in the “Featured” box on the left-hand side of the page.)

Using the advanced search feature, she entered “John Szucs” in the name field, “1879” (+/- 2 years) in the “Birth Year” field, and “1902” in the “Migration Arrival” field.

Although the search results showed several “John Szucs,” they did not seem to match what information she had on him. But after some scrolling, she found a “Jonas Szucs” in the Baltimore Passenger Lists, 1820–1948, whose information seemed to match that of her ancestor quite well.

On doing some more research, she learned that “Jonas” is the Hungarian variation for John; his name was changed when he came to America.

The passenger list revealed that both Jonas and Andras came from the small Hungarian town (now Slovakian) of Horka and were headed to Dillonvale, Ohio. There was a mining strike going on in Dillonvale in 1902, leading Juliana to believe they were being brought over to replace the striking miners.

Military Records
Another important clue that the 1930 census can give you is about military service.

Columns 30 and 31 indicate whether the individual in the census was a veteran and, if so, which war he/she served in. (Common notations are “WW” for WWI or “Civ” for the Civil War.)

For this example, let’s start with the 1930 U.S. census for Rolla Charles Payne, who is Barack Obama’s maternal great-grandfather.

(Click here to see the original census record.) 
 
 
The 1930 U.S. census record for Rolla Payne, Barack Obama’s maternal great-grandfather. If you scroll to the end of the record, you can see a “yes” in column 30, indicating that Rolla was a veteran, and a “WW” in column 31, indicating that he served in WWI—remember, WWII hadn’t happened yet.

Knowing that Rolla is a WWI veteran, you can go to the WWI Draft Card Registration Collection on Ancestry.com  to look for a draft card. (To get to this collection from the homepage, click the “Search” tab; click “Military” in the “Featured” box; then click “World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918.”)

By typing just his name into the Search fields, Rolla’s WWI Draft Card pops up as the second search result in the list.

Not only does this card have Rolla’s original signature—it gives more information about his life: his address, his date and city of birth, and even a brief physical description (i.e., medium height, slender, gray eyes, and brown hair).

World War I Draft Cards aren’t the only military records available. If you go to our military Web page, you can see most of the military databases we have available. If the census indicates that your ancestor served in the Civil War, be sure to check out our U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles collection, which was just updated this month in honor of the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth.

Put Your Sleuthing Hat On
As you can see, records are not dead ends. Each one holds clues to your next find. Even the census records, immigration records, and military records we highlighted in this article contain clues that may help you find a new record, go back a generation, or give you another piece of your family tree puzzle. So put your detective hat on and start sleuthing!