Census indexes sometimes fail to point the way

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How can you be lost if you are a farmer and you own more than 100 acres of land in a not-so-populous town such as Abbot, Maine? How can you be lost if you live with your wife, Roxanna, and your children, Frank, Eugene, Charles, Walter and Emma?

Well, of course, Sumner Bennett was not lost at all. It’s just that he told the census taker in 1870 that his name was S.R. Bennett rather than Sumner. That could slow down a person looking for Sumner.

Six decades later, Sumner’s grandson taught high school in Abbot. Everybody knew Mike Bennett, who had played basketball and baseball for Colby College and for whom three boys in the family would be named.

But none of the Michael Bennetts in the 1930 census was the right one, and it was no use to look for male Bennetts with “M” as a middle initial. That’s because Mike’s real name was Alvarus Frank.

So much for census indexes, eh?

So when you go looking in the census, it’s hoped that you know the names of some of the other people in the household – family members who were identified correctly and indexed correctly.

In that case, you may have great luck with an indexed database such as ancestry.com, which you can use free at public libraries such as those in Bangor, Ellsworth and Oakland.

Otherwise, you hope the locale you’re searching is relatively small, and not a city like Bangor or Boston or New York City.

If the town is of reasonable size, you may well want to search for towns in Maine on microfilm at the University of Maine’s Fogler Library in Orono, or at the Maine State Archives in Augusta.

If the town is in another state, you can go to the Family History Center of an LDS Church such as the one on the corner of Grandview Avenue and Essex Street in Bangor. For a small fee you can rent census microfilm from Salt Lake City.

You might be surprised what comes back to you as you scroll through a microfilm reel.

There in the 1930 census for Abbot are my great-grandparents, Walter and Rena Bennett, and their son, Alvarus F., living on Monson Road.

The previous household listed on the census is the Seth Leeman family, and how many times did I hear my dad and his brothers refer to “the Leeman place?”

People do sometimes “change” from one census to the next, listed here by their first name and there by their middle name.

Theoretically, everyone should age 10 years from one listing to the next, except for the fact that the date of the census may have varied by a couple of months.

Some people may seem to have aged eight years between enumerations, or 12, and then there is the odd person who seems to be younger than she was 10 years ago!

Keep in mind that censuses for 1790-1840 list only the head of household by name, and the rest of the members by category according to age and gender.

Censuses for 1850-1930 – except for the 1890 census, which burned – list everyone in the household. But it wasn’t until 1880 that the listings stated how each person was related to the head of household.

It’s fun to hear about the various projects that local historical societies pursue, and there’s a nifty one under way thanks to the Lincoln Historical Society – the town, not the county.

The group’s book committee wants to know what you know for the next book it’s putting out. The topic covers doctors, dentists, eye doctors, pharmacists, undertakers, physician’s assistants, midwives, funeral homes and hospitals in Lincoln from the early 1800s to 2007.

To qualify, an individual must meet at least one of these criteria: 1) have been born and-or raised in Lincoln, 2) be a graduate of Mattanawcook Academy or 3) practiced in Lincoln.

Information that is pertinent may be biographical, educational, professional, military as well as anecdotal, pictures and signatures.

In particular, the society is looking for information on these Lincoln names: Ball, Butterfield, Colwell, Tommy Corro, George and John Cox, Philip Deane ENT, Dana and Odell Fellows, Gulesian, Heal, Howes, Harold Libby, Robert Lovely, McNamara, Metcalf, Samuelson, Sewall, Spires, Troutt, Weisz, Willette, Lewis “Blutcher” Weatherbee and “our stumpers,” Doctors Baker, De Saint, C.A. Sargeant, Shreve and particularly a Dr. White who lived in Howland before Dr. Nesin’s arrival.

You may e-mail information to lhs1935@hotmail.com or mail to LHS President Jeanette King, Railroad Street, Lincoln, ME 04457.

“Remember, what might look like a small, simple fact might complete an entire picture for others,” King wrote. “There never will be too much or too little information. The input of everyone and anyone is welcomed.”

Last week’s column noted that the reprinted Colby’s “Atlas of Hancock County Maine” was available for sale at libraries, historical societies, etc. in Hancock and Washington counties.

More accurate would have been to say it is available at some of those facilities. So here again is the information to order by mail. Send check for $19.50, postage included, to Trescott Historical Society, P.O. Box 1, Whiting, ME 04691.

Send genealogy queries to Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402; or familyti@bangordailynews.net.