It can be very frustrating when tracking a family group in
the federal census and they suddenly disappear.
Perhaps they moved or died … or maybe they were incorrectly indexed or
the census taker’s spelling or handwriting was awful.
I have found it most helpful to check and compare census
holdings on Ancestry, Family Search and Heritage Quest. Most public libraries will provide free
access to Heritage Quest (I can check in online from home). Each of these websites used different
transcribers, so their interpretation of the written page may produce different
results.
I have been working on the Kelder family in Ulster County NY
and thus far have found them as Kelder, Elder, Keller, Calder, Cowder and Kelde. If one member of the family has an unusual
first name,that might be the most direct way to find the various versions of
the surname. But when you have many
named John with a wife or daughter named Sarah, checking all three online
options has proven best for me.
By the way, when looking for Gertrude who was born in
Holland, I found her listed as something like Cornelia born in New York. Her husband was Cornelius and I believe she
was widowed in that particular census … so maybe it was meant to be Mrs
Cornelius. Be certain you evaluate your potential matches, even the odd ones …
they might be just what you are looking for.
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