Many researchers enter the realm of public records by reading federal census records. Besides being useful, census records can be entertaining. Watch for unusual occupations, notes the census taker added and—my favorite—unique personal names: Easter Hare, Bright Bird, Missouri Rivers, Green House, Decimus et Ultimus Barziza, Preserved Fish.

How can the census help? Federal census records date back to 1790, just after the federal government was created. Since then, the census has been taken every 10 years to determine apportionment in the House of Representatives. At first, the census questions were limited in scope and so offer the genealogist little information—basically, the head of household's name, the number of free males and females in the household and the number of slaves. Each census thereafter asked more questions.

By 1850, the census named all free persons in households and reported their ages and birthplaces. The 1870 census was the first after the Civil War and so was the first to name the recently freed slaves and show their family groups. Beginning in 1880, the census also gave the birthplace of each person's parents and—very important—the relationship of each person to the head of household: wife, son, granddaughter, mother-in-law, etc. The 1900 census added questions about each person's month and year of birth, but not all the answers are correct.

Because of a 72-year privacy period, the 1920 census is the most recent one available for public research. The 1930 census will be opened in 2002. In addition to the population census schedules, some supplemental schedules exist, mostly for 1850 to 1880. They give details of each farm and manufacturing business as well as deaths that occurred during the census year. Separate slave schedules exist for 1850 and 1860 but rarely name the slaves. Using census records: In order to find your ancestors (or maybe yourself) in census records, you need to know the county and state where the family lived in the census year. Fortunately, many indexes are available to help you find this information. For the most part, indexes are in book form, on CD-ROM and on microfilm; some are now online. When using genealogical indexes, expect your ancestral names to be spelled in different ways and look for spelling variations.

A legitimate goal is to look for your ancestors in every census taken during their lifetimes, working backward from the most recent. When you find your ancestral family in a census record, note everyone in the household and all the information given about each person. From this information, you can estimate birth and death dates, marriage dates, migration patterns and relationships. For example, an 8-year-old in the 1850 census would have been born about 1842. (The word about is important because you cannot know the correct date from that one record.)

When you find your ancestral family in the census, also look at other families in the neighborhood, especially any with the same surname. Why? Ancestors often lived near relatives. Studying potential extended family gives you a better picture of the family you're researching.

Where are the census records? Currently, you can research census records at many public, university and special libraries, at the National Archives and its branches, and through rental facilities such as Heritage Quest (800-760-2455 or www.heritagequest.com/genealogy/microfilm/). The Family History Centers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also offer rental of census records (see www.familysearch.org/Search/searchfhc2.asp or your local telephone directory for locations). Gradually census indexes and records are appearing online, at such sites as www.usgenweb.org, www.ancestry.com and www.genealogydatabase.com. (Learn more about the race to digitize census records.)