- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
Genealogy and Census Mistakes
Posted on 4/3/26 at 10:46 am
Posted on 4/3/26 at 10:46 am
I used to be obsessed with my family genealogy. I researched it every chance I got. I learned that most people treat census records like they are Gospel. However, I found a couple of census errors.
I found one 3 X great grandfather who was born in either Kentucky or Tennessee depending on which census you choose to believe. Different censuses have him listed as being born in each state.
Another census listed a great grandfather as Negro. I don't think so. His parents were both German immigrants - father from Saxony and mother from Bavaria. Also, I had my DNA tested and it came back zero percent African. Nonetheless I kept a copy of it. If this country ever enacts reparations then I am going to pull it out and take some of that money.
I found one 3 X great grandfather who was born in either Kentucky or Tennessee depending on which census you choose to believe. Different censuses have him listed as being born in each state.
Another census listed a great grandfather as Negro. I don't think so. His parents were both German immigrants - father from Saxony and mother from Bavaria. Also, I had my DNA tested and it came back zero percent African. Nonetheless I kept a copy of it. If this country ever enacts reparations then I am going to pull it out and take some of that money.
11
Posted on 4/3/26 at 11:04 am to Missouri Waltz
The 1930 Census lists my grandmother as having a younger sister. I asked all of the family that would know if there was a 4th sibling, and nobody had heard of such. There is no birth certificate or death certificate tied to this person, so I have to believe it was an error on the census taker.
Depending on where your ancestors lived (rural vs more urban), the Census records can be VERY wrong in the 1900-1930's. Seems like by the 40's, things were getting on track.
Part of my job doing historic mineral title sometimes involves using Ancestry records to try and connect the heirship dots, and there are some really shady census records in rural East Texas from decade to decade.
Depending on where your ancestors lived (rural vs more urban), the Census records can be VERY wrong in the 1900-1930's. Seems like by the 40's, things were getting on track.
Part of my job doing historic mineral title sometimes involves using Ancestry records to try and connect the heirship dots, and there are some really shady census records in rural East Texas from decade to decade.
Posted on 4/3/26 at 11:08 am to Missouri Waltz
quote:
Also, I had my DNA tested and it came back zero percent African
Nice
Posted on 4/3/26 at 11:14 am to GRTiger
If he was part West African he could say it
Posted on 4/3/26 at 11:18 am to Missouri Waltz
quote:
If this country ever enacts reparations then I am going to pull it out and take some of that money.
That's actually one of the issue with reparations. If it ever does happen, people will come out of the woodwork to claim black.
Posted on 4/3/26 at 11:26 am to riverparish
quote:
That's actually one of the issue with reparations. If it ever does happen, people will come out of the woodwork to claim black.
I could be wrong but this is my understanding.
Until 1983, Louisiana had the "one drop" law. If a person had any Negro ancestry whatsoever then under state law that is what he was and it was listed on birth certificates. Can you imagine the number of people that would include?
Posted on 4/3/26 at 11:55 am to Missouri Waltz
My parents were soooo much into this that it made me not want to chase that rabbit. They went to Europe and Nova Scotia several times just to do that research back in 70s and 80s. They, along with other aunts/uncles found genealogy all the way back to their original "coat of arms". I think it was late 1500s. They should have let us do it with the internet. Much easier. 
Posted on 4/3/26 at 12:53 pm to 6R12
quote:
They should have let us do it with the internet.
You have to be careful there too.
For example if you go to the Mormon genealogy page you are not cross-referencing records. What you are doing is cross-referencing what someone else has compiled and submitted. I found things on that site that I know for a fact are wrong.
Posted on 4/3/26 at 12:57 pm to Missouri Waltz
Census errors is how our last name has so many spellings. When we came out of French Canada chasing furs along the Mississippi census screw up gave us all bunch of different spellings. We had a reunion about 10 years ago and there were 6 different spellings all related.
Posted on 4/3/26 at 12:58 pm to Missouri Waltz
quote:
Can you imagine the number of people that would include?
About 12% of Louisiana's white population has at least 1% African ancestry. That number is similar for most of the former slave states.
Posted on 4/3/26 at 1:37 pm to LSUGUMBO
quote:
The 1930 Census lists my grandmother as having a younger sister. I asked all of the family that would know if there was a 4th sibling, and nobody had heard of such. There is no birth certificate or death certificate tied to this person, so I have to believe it was an error on the census taker.
This seems to be a common problem.
The 1870 census shows our G-Grandfather as having a younger brother who did not appear in the 1880 census. Lil dude was never heard from again. No church record of him either, but the baptism registry showed G-Grandfather having a younger sister born 1874 after the Lil dude. No civic record of the wee lass anywhere.
Probably a combo of census taker error and/or the individuals telling half-truths. Or maybe people shuffled relatives around and counted a visiting cousin as "part of the household" or a sibling when the census taker came knocking. Or maybe a death record was not made or had been lost.
Document and second guess your sources before you start building a tree on inaccurate information.
Tis part of the fun. :)
Posted on 4/3/26 at 1:39 pm to LSUGUMBO
quote:
Part of my job doing historic mineral title sometimes involves using Ancestry records to try and connect the heirship dots, and there are some really shady census records in rural East Texas from decade to decade.
those are some high stakes. i.e. involving money and inheritance.
clearly not just a hobby!
Posted on 4/3/26 at 1:53 pm to Missouri Waltz
My FIL has always claimed to be Italian but his grandparents came over from Sicily. I tried to tell him he wasn't Italian, explained the whole eggplant bit from True Romance. Then he got his DNA tested. He read the results, looked at me and said "holy shite I'm a ni**er".
Posted on 4/3/26 at 1:58 pm to Missouri Waltz
Data is only as good as the people who input it
Just like AI, machine learning is only as good as the sources it learns from
Just like AI, machine learning is only as good as the sources it learns from
Posted on 4/3/26 at 3:44 pm to Missouri Waltz
Our family is overwhelmingly British isles with a little German and French. My wife had been told that one of her great, great grandmothers was cherokee(I know, Cherokee princess). We get results, and I turn out to have 0-1% Ghana ancestry while wife turns out to be almost 100% English with no native american. She and her sister were crushed.
She and her sister were crushed.This post was edited on 4/3/26 at 3:54 pm
Posted on 4/3/26 at 4:16 pm to AUstar
quote:I am in that number, according to 23andme. A second cousin traced our genealogy back to an aristocratic second son who emigrated to Maryland in the 1600s. A generation or two down the line, the then planter’s son had a child when he was in his teens, with a teenage mother. That child was disinherited. I’m inclined to believe he was biracial. That child’s widow later petitioned the newly formed United States for his war benefits, after he died fighting in the RW.
About 12% of Louisiana's white population has at least 1% African ancestry.
This post was edited on 4/3/26 at 4:21 pm
Posted on 4/3/26 at 4:33 pm to South Shore Cyclist
Census takers were political appointees in many cases, usually some hack’s brother in law. All too often they were dumbasses who guessed or made mistakes.
Couple that with the lady of the house being the one giving information and often she was illiterate and gave the wrong age of her children.
My g-g-g grandmother was born in Lancaster County, SC. The damn census taker listed her birth place as Pennsylvania. As in Lancaster, PA.
Couple that with the lady of the house being the one giving information and often she was illiterate and gave the wrong age of her children.
My g-g-g grandmother was born in Lancaster County, SC. The damn census taker listed her birth place as Pennsylvania. As in Lancaster, PA.
Posted on 4/3/26 at 4:44 pm to Missouri Waltz
My girlfriend has had many Africans inside her from what she once said. She’s very white so I don’t know what she’s talking about
Posted on 4/3/26 at 7:37 pm to Mushroom1968
quote:
My girlfriend has had many Africans inside her from what she once said.
Sort of like Kamala Harris. The only African DNA she ever had inside of her came from Willie Brown.
Page 1 of 2
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News