1950 Census Thoughts

I’ve been doing a little thinking about the 1950 United States Federal Census which will be released in April of 2022. One or more of the genealogy vendors will likely have a full name index shortly after its release. I’m fortunate that I won’t to wait for the index. The 1950 census entries for my eleven living forebears should all be in Hancock County, Illinois, and should be easy to locate. I found the same families in 1940 without any difficulty–the main exception was that my grandparents were still living with their parents and I had two more living ancestors at the time. Based upon what I know about the family, this is where they should be in 1940:

• Cecil and Ida (Trautvetter) Neill and my Dad–Prairie Township.
• John and Dorothy (Habben) Ufkes and my Mom–Rock Creek Township.
• Fannie (Rampley) Neill–West Point–St. Albans Township.
• Fred and Tena (Janssen) Ufkes–Bear Creek Township.
• Mimka and Tjode (Goldenstein) Habben–Prairie Township.

My families were not very mobile and in 1950 with the exception of my maternal grandparents they were all living on property they owned (my maternal grandparents were renting). All were living on a farm in 1950 except for Fannie Neill.

By the time I was born eighteen years later, Fannie Neill, Fred Ufkes, and the Tjode Habben had died. Tena Ufkes had moved to Carthage and my maternal grandparents had moved to the farm where Fred and Tena Ufkes had lived before. Everyone else was in the exact same spot.

I’ll have more of a challenge with my in-laws. My father-in-law and his parents were living in Rock Island, Illinois, at a known address. They should not be too difficult to find. My mother-in-law and her parents were either living in Marceline, Missouri; Chicago, Illinois; or Moline, Illinois. I’ll have to do a little digging to find them before the index comes out. Although with the exception of Marceline, I do know the neighborhoods they lived in when they were in Chicago and Moline, so all those areas could be searched manually. Or I may just wait until the index comes out.

I doubt if I look for too many other distant relatives in 1950 until the index comes out. That’s because by the time I get through all the family members in Hancock County, Illinois, the nationwide index will probably have been completed by someone!

Where will your people be in 1950?