I’ve adapted Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge.

Each week’s post follows my children’s ahnentafel numbering, which determines the featured ancestor.

This ensures no one until mid-sixth generation gets left behind.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2026 Week 07: What the Census Suggests

Introduction

My Week 7 ancestor is my mother, Elise West. Her mom was pregnant with her during the 1940 census, so I only had the 1950 to work with here.

And then I looked at the 1950 and regretted tying myself to a specific ancestor – as a nine year old, she had absolutely nothing interesting or surprising in her record.

But her neighbor – that was a different story.

Discussion

When I followed that page list, three doors down is where the story actually began. We have:

• Ruth Acree, head of household
• Lybrand Smith, Lodger
• Susan M Smith, Lodger’s wife
• Sophie J Turner, mother

But because my grandfather happened to fall on the census’s sample line, I noticed that Sophie had a note attached to her: that she was the mother of the head of household, not the lodger.

That’s a crucially important note for a researcher of either family! The census suggested how easily a family relationship can be misunderstood. Bless that enumerator, Elaine Gordon, for her attention to detail!

Challenge

What bonus clues and hints has the census given you? Has the enumerator given a more detailed birth place than required by the instructions? Was the age or birthdate very specific? We all have our terrible enumerator stories, but let’s think of a good one! Drop a comment below.

AI Disclosure

This post was created by me with the help of AI tools. While AI helps organize research, the storytelling and discoveries are my own.

Next Week’s Topic: A Big Decision