10 December 2012

Finding Aunt Anna Goldenstein in 1940

The first image in this post is part of the 1940 census enumeration for Anna Goldenstein in Arkansas County, Arkansas. She's a widow living with her parents. 

1940 US Census (Mill Bayou, Arkansas, Arkansas; Roll: T627_116; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 1-20)--obtained on Ancestry.com

Searches for Goldenstein turned up absolutely nothing despite my creativity. I did not know she was in Arkansas County in 1940, but I knew she married there in 1918 and died there in 1978 under the name of Anna Goldenstein. In desperation, and because I wasn't going ready to search the entire county of Arkansas page by page, I decided to search for other members of her family in an attempt to find her or at least learn something about her family. Among those matches with the last name of Whitman (Soundex turned on), was this entry, which struck my interest as it was the first name I needed and the correct year of birth.
"1940 United States Federal Census about Anna Wittman," obtained on Ancestry.com

Sure enough, that "Anna Wittman" aged 45 pulled up the census image you see at the top of this blog post.

The enumerator squeezed "Goldenstein" in and the indexer apparently missed it.

I've already submitted the correction to Ancestry.com.

Don't neglect the maiden name after the marriage-you just never know.

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Reminder--we don't include complete citations on blog posts--just our personal preference. Complete citations are always included in Casefile Clues or you can learn about citations in Elizabeth Shown Mills' Evidence Explained. We always do include enough background information in blog posts that readers can find our original sources.If you think we don't, please fire off an email to me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com