The 1920 U.S. Census Record in Genealogy: A Closer Look

Genealogy Records: A Closer Look at the 1920 U.S. Census in Genealogy Research

The 1920 U.S. Census Record in Genealogy: A Closer Look

When it comes to genealogy research, census records can give you the most details about a person and their family than any other record! These fantastic genealogy records can give you a snapshot of how they were living at a particular time; after starting with what you know now, the first step in genealogy research, the census records are the best starting point in your next step of research. They offer an enormous amount of information that will start you off and lead you to many of your next steps. Not only can you find the standard information on your ancestor like their name, age, birthplace, and residence; you can find so much more! Depending on the census record, you can also find their address, their occupation, their parents’ birthplaces, their citizenship status, their year of immigration, their marriage info, their military service info, how many children they have, others living in the household and their info, the value of their home and personal belongings, and more!

Continue with me on the 1920 Census in this series that takes a closer look at the 1850 to 1950 U.S. Federal Census Records.

The 1920 U.S. Census:
​This was the eighth U.S. Census that listed EVERY household member by name and had detailed categories, and unlike being consistently enumerated during the summer for all the previous censuses, it was the second census to change seasons and enumeration dates (since 1830; the first being the 1910 census) and the first to be enumerated starting on January 1st. This census introduced the new detail of the year of naturalization if the person was naturalized!

Front of 1920 U.S. Census Form, Courtesy of the National Archives Website

Back of 1920 U.S. Census Form, Courtesy of the National Archives Website

This census record had many of the same categories and details that were seen in the 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900 and 1910 censuses such as including ALL household members’ names; their ages, sex, color, and place of birth; occupation information; whether any of the household members attended school or were married; and literacy information, but with a few new details added to some of the categories; and a few details taken out. I am not including the 1890 census information that I previously spoke about, as we didn’t get to use it. 😉

Some of the new categories or changed/combined categories for this census, compared to the 1910 Census, were “Place of Abode”, “Tenure”, “Relation”, and “Nativity and Mother Tongue”.
 
New Categories:

• Relation: This new category took the previous detail of “Relationship to Head of Household”, and now put it under a category.
• Nativity and MOTHER TONGUE: The second part of this category is new and was added onto the previous “Nativity” category.

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Category Name Changes:

• Tenure: This new category took the details of whether they owned or rented their home, and if they owned it, whether it was free of payments or mortgaged from the previous “Home Ownership” category.
• Place of Abode: The previous “Location” category changed to “Place of Abode”.

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New Details:

• Year of Naturalization, if naturalized
• Mother Tongue
• Farm: This was now included under “Place of Abode” (previously “Location”), along with the house number.

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Details that Moved to another Category:

• Farm Schedule #: This detail moved from the previous “Home Ownership” category to the “Occupation” category.
• Native Langue: This was removed from the “Citizen” category and added to the new, combined category of “Nativity and Native Tongue”, along with now including parents’ language spoken.

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Details Eliminated:

• Number of Years of Present Marriage: Introduced in the 1910 Census and was reviewed in “The 1910 U.S. Census Record in Genealogy: A Closer Look”
• Number of Children Born to this Mother: On the 1900 and 1910 censuses, and covered in “A Closer Look at the 1900 U.S. Census in Genealogy Research” and “The 1910 U.S. Census Record in Genealogy: A Closer Look”
• Number of these Children Living, of this mother: On the 1900 and 1910 censuses, and covered in “A Closer Look at the 1900 U.S. Census in Genealogy Research” and “The 1910 U.S. Census Record in Genealogy: A Closer Look”
• Weeks out of Work
• Bind, Deaf and Mute, once again
• Union/Confederate Veteran: Introduced in the 1910 Census, and spoken about last in “The 1910 U.S. Census Record in Genealogy: A Closer Look”

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Tip:
Use the data on this census to help you find naturalization records for your ancestors! 😉

Remember:
Enumerators were not required to get the spelling of names; wrote down the information given to them without any proof; and made their own determination of race based on their own judgement. 😉


As previously mentioned, depending on where and by whom the census was taken, I usually don’t find the census filled out consistently, and some of the categories are underreported, but if they are, then you have a lot of details to help you in your research! EVERY detail/clue helps in genealogy! 😉
 
Find my other posts on the U.S. Census records below, and under the Genealogy Records category!
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The 1910 U.S. Census Record in Genealogy: A Closer Look
A Closer Look at the 1900 U.S. Census in Genealogy Research
The 1890 U.S. Census: A Tragic and Sad Loss!
The 1880 U.S. Census: A Closer Look at the Even Better Census!
The 1870 U.S. Census: A Closer Look
The 1860 U.S. Census: A Closer Look
The 1850 U.S. Census: One of the Golden Genealogy Records


Check out more information about the U.S. Census on the United States Census Bureau website and the National Archives and Records Administration website!

Let me know what you think of this fantastic genealogy research tool below in the comments!
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