“The Researcher’s Guide” Explains Uses, Value and Limitations of Census Research

As we have noted on a number of occasions, Val D. Greenwood’s Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy discusses and explains in detail all the major sources for genealogy research in the U.S.

The volume devotes two chapters to census records that explain the contents of and differences between the official U.S. censuses 1790-1940, colonial censuses, special censuses such as agricultural, slave, and mortality censuses, military information found in the censuses, and much more.

Chapter 15, “Using Census Records in Your Research,” concludes with three examples that illustrate the potential benefits and real limitations of the census. We have reprinted Example No.2 below, concerning the Kerr family of Iowa and Tennessee, for our readers edification.