Comments on: Ancestry.com Adds 1940 Census Indexes for 15 States

By: Alice

Alice — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 20:05:40 +0000

Regarding Suzanne’s comment on July 12, I too have been so disappointed in the indexing…speed at the sacrifice of accuracy….now I understand if the comments of the location of the transcribers is correct. I have discovered that Polk County in Georgia, in which I am interested, has been intermingled with Pulaski County, which is on the same Roll, according to NARA. Unable to understand how this could happen…Ancestry customer support has been aware of this since July and has done NOTHING to correct it. Still getting the run-around. Is it hopeless?

By: custom promotional

custom promotional — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 08:27:09 +0000

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By: Laverne Schuck

Laverne Schuck — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 22:25:59 +0000

I need the year James Clark was born, married to Martha Porter, year died
the year Martha Porter was born, married to James Clark, year died

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 11:28:14 +0000

Regarding comment 12 from Rita Burchett

I too have been disappointed in the accuracy of the 1940 census (and other indexes as well) what is very clear and readable on records I have often wondered where or what on earth the transcribers saw. Here is what I found on a blog (the Ancestry Insider)today and my question was answered
” the records were transcribed in China,Bangladesh,Philippines”.

By: Rita Burchett

Rita Burchett — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 02:52:48 +0000

While I appreciate the speed of getting this information out, in my case more than half the names are translated/spelled wrong…I had a hard time finding my searches and very disappointed with my information. It is more important to do a job correct than to do it with speed…I realize that some errors occur but please, take the time to do the job right!

By: Joni Bohacheff

Joni Bohacheff — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 16:54:09 +0000

I would like to thank all of the people who are working hard to index the 1940 census. While their efforts are to be commended I would like to point out to all who wish to benefit from their kind contribution that the job is not finished with the index.

I have been searching using the indexes available and have found that in the effort to release this information to us and make our searches easier there are a multitude of transcription errors. Our job is to check our ancestors in the index and correct these errors. It is easy to do: simply locate your ancestor in the index, review the actual document and correct the transcription errors by clicking “Add Alternate Information” on the left of the page. An option is given for correcting name transcription errors as well as correcting misspellings by census takers, etc.

I submitted approximately 30 corrections (transcriptions only) this morning alone.

Let’s work together to help others find their ancestors.

Joni Creel Bohacheff

By: Dave Woody

Dave Woody — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 15:22:56 +0000

Although the “old” search 1940 census page has a nice listing of the 1940 census indexing progress, the drop down menu of the search engine still only lists four states besides DC: Delaware, Maine, Nevada and New York. Perhaps one of your celebrity researchers could be persuaded to keep this function up to date.

By: Jo

Jo — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 16:41:29 +0000

I’m waiting for New Jersey. Any idea how soon to completion?

By: Andy Hatchett

Andy Hatchett — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 08:51:16 +0000

Between Ancestry and FamilySearch there are now 39 states and the District of Columbia that have been indexed and are searchable. That leaves 11 states to go.

Arkansas
Connecticut
Illinois
Maryland
Massachusetts
Missouri
New Jersey
North Carolina
South Carolina
Texas
West Virginia

By: Shamrock

Shamrock — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 02:09:55 +0000

I was recently browsing through 1940 census pages for Bethesda, MD and came across an interesting find. On page 61A you can find Robert Lincoln Beckwith who was the last living direct descendant of President Abraham Lincoln. He is listed as age 35 and living with his second wife, Hazel. Mr. Beckwith died in 1985 leaving no direct descendant of the 16th President.