Introducing Women in the 1900 & 1910 Censuses

If you think all of your genealogy work has been completely done, think again.

The limitations of historical record-keeping make it all too easy for many family members to fall through the cracks and go undetected—even in the fullest family trees.

Goldie May now has a new feature to help you find missing children in the 1900 and 1910 US censuses. This tool has helped me find discrepancies in several of my ancestors' lines between the number of children recorded in the tree and the number reported by the mother in the census.

Want to test this feature to know if your family history research is complete? Here's a quick tutorial on how to use Goldie May to check for missing children.

About the 1900 & 1910 U.S. Censuses

These two census years are special because census takers asked women these two unique questions:

• "How many children have you had?"
• "How many of your children are still living?"

By comparing the answers to these questions with the research you already have recorded, you can double-check to make sure your family tree is not missing any children who may have died between census years or have remained unrecorded for another reason.

Using the Women in the 1900 & 1910 Censuses Feature in Goldie May

1. Open the FamilySearch Tree page in your browser. Once you're here, Goldie May shows you all the women who were alive when the 1900 and/or 1910 censuses were taken.
2. Click on one of the women listed. Verify her age to make sure she was old enough to have children by 1900 or 1910.
3. If the woman has a 1900 or 1910 census record in her sources, Goldie May will give you links to those. (If not, it will give you a link to where you can search for the missing census record.)

4. Once you click the link to the census record, Goldie May will prompt you to enter two numbers reported by the woman (or her household):

   • How many children she ever had
   • How many of her children are still living

   In the case of the 1900 census, these data are found on the census index page, because these columns of the census were indexed. In the 1910 census, these two columns were not indexed, so you'll need to click over to the original image and zoom in to find the answer to these two questions. (Consider using Goldie May's screenshot feature so you have an easy reference if you need to view the original record again.)

5. Once you've answered the questions, Goldie May will compare your answers to the number of children from the tree. If the woman reports more children than your tree currently shows, you have discovered a new research opportunity!
6. After you've checked both censuses for a particular ancestor, two checkmarks will appear by her name in Goldie May to note you have verified her data in the 1900 and 1910 US censuses.

This feature in Goldie May provides an important, secondary check on how many children should be in the family tree.

In my family, this tool revealed one missing child from my great-great-grandmother (possibly two, depending on how you interpret the handwriting) and another missing child from my third-great grandmother. This feature can reveal research opportunities even in the most well-researched family trees.