Comments on: New 1950 U.S. Census Substitute

By: Jerry Bryan

Jerry Bryan — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 06:23:19 +0000

Re: #41: The browsing method you suggest is generally speaking the best way to find things in city directories. However, I would suggest a slightly more intuitive way to get to the City Directory page itself.

Namely, go to the Ancestry Card Catalog, for example, by hovering over the search button and then going down to click on the Ancestry Card Catalog. Once in the Ancestry Card Catalog, search on something like “city direct*” without the quotes. I tend to use the wild card in this context for fear of not knowing whether it’s spelled “Directory” or “Directories”. Then, click the first entry in the list.

It’s really much simpler than it sounds, and for the most part is very intuitive. The hardest part if you are not used to it is the part about hovering over the search button because it is not at all obvious in advance that that’s the way to find the Ancestry Card Catalog. The rest of the process is very natural.

(Dare I point out that searching for a title of “1950 census substitute” in the Ancestry Card Catalog will find nothing (grin!), although it does work as a keyword search.)

By: Andy Hatchett

Andy Hatchett — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 03:56:14 +0000

Doris Re: #46

If a rose is a rose is a rose-
Then why try and pass it off as a Lily?

Things are called things for a reason- namely to have a common understanding of the thing so that communication is possible.

By: Doris Snyder

Doris Snyder — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 02:13:39 +0000

Don’t care what you call them. If it helps with my research I appreciate it. “By any other name a rose is still a rose.”

By: Ray Phillips

Ray Phillips — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:19:06 +0000

You U.S. types do have it cushy. In England, Scotland and Wales we have to wait 100 years NOT 72 as with you lot, for the results of a Census. At 69, I have just seen my parents (both born 1906) appear on the 1911 Census which was released (amidst much opposition) 2 years early.

By: Laura Dansbury

Laura Dansbury — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:49:25 +0000

#42-The search logic is the same, regardless of subscription level. We veil some of the information such as city and date if you are not a subscriber.
#43 – Thank you for sharing your tips & successes.

By: Mary M.

Mary M. — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:07:49 +0000

I found the city directories useful in helping establish the approximate death year if the person died after the 1930 census and before the time the SSDI kicks in; occasionally, no one in the family knows when the person in question died or where he or she is buried. Having a range of a couple years helps save me time when looking through newspaper microfilms for obits. No, directories are no substitute for the census but they do help establish residency, specific place of employment, the address & even some family members (by address). Generally, these directories also do a much, much better job with “foreign” names than do census takers & (especially) census transcribers.

By: BILL WALLACE

BILL WALLACE — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:53:42 +0000

THIS MAY NOT BE THE CORRECT FORMAT TO SAY,THAT I HOPE YOU PEOPLE AT ANCESTRY.COM AND RELATED LINKS,GET SUED BT THE FEDERAL GOVERMENT SOON FOR YOUR CONTROLING THE SEARCHES THAT NON SUSCRIBERS HAVE TO PUT UP WITH TRYING TO USE YOUR SITE.. EXP:I TYPE IN HILINS NAME YOU GIVE MR HOLMES,ETC. ETC.

By: Laura Dansbury

Laura Dansbury — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:45:27 +0000

#39 – If you are interested in browsing to a particular city, I suggest going to http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1540 and using the right side bar navigation to narrow down to just the cities that you are interested in. We may not have the city you are interested in included in the 1950 era list, but we may have that city for a different year.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 11:50:23 +0000

Question on 1930s and ’40s-era Polk Directory: Listed as the “County Taxpayer Directory,” each name has a dollar amount at the end of it. Is that taxable income or tax paid, or… ? (I can’t find any explanation for it in the directory itself.)

By: Vicky

Vicky — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:53:00 +0000

I have had absolutely no luck with this set of records. When I put in a name to search, it uses that name on every record it returns regardless of whose name is really on the record. ie: I asked for Victor (last name)and every record I get for that last name says “Victor” until you actually go to the record; then the name might be Joe, Tom, John, etc. It won’t isolate to a specific State, much less City or Town!