1940 Census: Does Your State Have a Name Index?

Indexing of the 1940 Census is going faster than I had expected, but it still is not fast enough. God give us patience and hurry up about it! 


The images have only been available for three and a half months, and already name indexes are available for 38 states and the District of Columbia. No single site has name indexes for that many states. However, between FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com a majority of the country is now available for searching by name. Both are providing free access--at least until the end of 2013. FamilySearch promises free access forever. Below is a list of the states for which name indexes are already accessible:

	Ancestry.com	FamilySearch.org
Alabama	√	√
Alaska		√
Arizona	√	√
Arkansas
California	√	√
Colorado	√	√
Connecticut
Delaware	√	√
District of Columbia	√
Florida		√
Georgia	√
Hawaii	√	√
Idaho		√
Illinois
Indiana	√	√
Iowa		√
Kansas	√	√
Kentucky	√
Louisiana		√
Maine	√	√
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan	√
Minnesota		√
Mississippi		√
Missouri
Montana	√	√
Nebraska		√
Nevada	√	√
New Hampshire		√
New Jersey
New Mexico		√
New York	√
North Carolina
North Dakota	√	√
Ohio	√
Oklahoma		√
Oregon	√	√
Pennsylvania	√	√
Rhode Island	√	√
South Carolina
South Dakota		√
Tennessee	√
Texas
Utah		√
Vermont	√	√
Virginia	√	√
Washington	√	√
West Virginia
Wisconsin	√
Wyoming		√

What is coming next?

Ancestry claims the next batch of states will include "AK, AR, ID, MA, MN, MO, NM, ND, OK, RI, SD, UT". Ancestry also also offers the opportunity to signup to be notified when specific states have name indexes available to be searched.

Several states including Arkansas and Missouri appear on the verge of having their name indexes go live at FamilySearch. Texas, West Virginia and Pennsylvania may not be far behind.

Later this summer HeritageQuest plans to start rolling out its version of this census.

However, for the foreseeable future, anyone researching my wife's family in Chicago will have to rely on location searching using the helpful 1-Step guides prepared by Joel Weintraub and Steve Morse which have been discussed previously on this blog. So will any of you who are researching the Carolinas, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey. With better family planning we would not have allowed our families to live in these states in 1940.  

In any case I expect all these states to be available long before my original expectation of the end of 2012.  The friendly competition between the two indexing teams has been a great service to all of us. Thank you volunteers and paid employees alike who have caused this mammoth project to move along so quickly. 

Should I Take A DNA Test?

I often am asked the question, Should I take a DNA test? This question is raised with more frequency when a DNA sale, such as the one I blogged about yesterday, is in progress. Up until the last few months my answer was, "Only if you have defined a genealogical question that a DNA test might help answer." 


Now my answer has evolved. My previous response is still the most important. You should have realistic expectations about what such a test may or may not be able to tell you. If you have defined a genealogical question, it is easier to examine:

• if any DNA test may help to provide an answer to your specific question;
• which kind of DNA test may be the most likely to provide helpful information; and
• who in your family should be tested to find the desired information. 

For genealogical purposes three tests are available to the general public. Y-chromosome tests, for men only, trace surname--paternal lines. Mitochondrial tests, for both genders, tract umbilical cords--maternal lines. Autosomal tests provide information about all ancestral lines but are genealogically useful for a few generations back in time. Therefore, the part of your family tree you are exploring will suggest which of these tests--if any are likely to provide useful genealogical information and whether you or one of your close relatives should be tested to discover potentially useful matches.

In recent months I have become aware of two other reasons for taking DNA tests for genealogical purposes. My father-in-law died in October. Subsequently, my wife and I moved into a continuing care retirement community. These two events have caused me to realize that the DNA of the older generation of our families is worthy of being preserved--along with their oral history and documents. Sometimes younger family members can be tested to achieve the same results. However, particularly with autosomal testing, every generational transfer erodes the results.

A third reason for testing is curiosity about new things. This is not sufficient motivation for everyone. However, for those with discretionary income, it may be provide justification. DNA test results may provide entertainment longer than a golfing weekend and perhaps at a lower cost. However, if you are trying to justify testing on this basis alone, you should understand that you may not find immediate gratification through matches with previously unknown relatives.

So, should you take advantage of DNA sales? Maybe. As long as you understand why you are testing and what the potential benefits may or may not be. The test results will not, by themselves, magically extend your family tree. However, when combined with traditional research methods and considerable communication with apparent matches, this tool can lead to new insights about your family history.

The exciting possibilities of testing DNA for medical issues is an entirely different topic which I may blog about in the coming weeks. The potential of personalized genomic medical treatment are truly mind boggling as are the related ethical issues. 

FTDNA Sale: More Details

When I published my earlier post today, no complete details of the magnitude of this sale had been released. Now more details are now available from FTDNA:

NEW KITS	Current Group Price	SALE PRICE
Y-DNA 12	$99	$59
Y-DNA 37	$149	$129
Y-DNA 67	$239	$199
Family Finder	$289	$199
mtFullSequence (FMS)	$299	$219
FF+ Y-DNA 37	$438	$328
FF + mtDNAPlus	$438	$328
Comprehensive (FF + FMS + Y-DNA 67)	$797	$617
SuperDNA	$518	$428
UPGRADES
12 to 37	$109	$70
25 to 37	$59	$35
25 to 67	$159	$114
37 to 67	$109	$79
37 to 111	$220	$188
67 to 111	$129	$109
mtHVR1 to Mega	$269	$209
mtHVR2 to Mega	$239	$199

If you have been thinking about ordering a DNA test, this sale may be attractive to you. It is unclear whether or not one must join a project group to get the full sale prices. However, joining one or more group will help you get the maximum benefit from your tests.

Y-chromosomal and Autosomal DNA Sale at FTDNA

On the FTDNA website today a sale has been announced. This sale runs only for the rest of this week -- through July 15th. The details for the sale seem to be as follows:


37 marker Y-chromosome test:    now $129 (men only to test surname line)
67 marker Y-chromosome test:    now $199 (men only to test surname line)


"Family Finder" Autosomal test:   now $199 (either gender to test for close relatives)


What test one should take and who in a family should take it depends almost entirely on what genealogical question one is trying to answer. Generally a 37 marker test is a good place to start to determine whether a male of a given surname biologically belongs an established surname cluster. A 67 or even 111 marker test may be useful in narrowing down a specific line of descent within a family cluster. 


Family Finder tests are almost certain to find close cousins of either gender who have tested. More distant cousins may or may not show up as matches even if they are in the database. For example 2nd cousins are almost certain to show as matches. However, the probability of matching with an actual cousin who is is in the database decreases with each generation further back in time. very distant cousins may show up; but the probability of matching with a specific person who is more than a 5th cousin is less than 5%. You will sill get a lot of matches at this level because you have a lot of distant cousins. Even if you and a distant cousin both have well developed pedigree charts, it will be difficult to determine on which of your lines this match occurs.


I am not surprised that the Family Finder autosomal test is on sale now that there are now three competitors offering similar products---FTDNA, 23andMe and Ancestry.

AncestryDNA Users Stay Alert!

Users of AncestryDNA need to be more proactive than they may expect. Other DNA services such as FTDNA and 23andMe typically send customers an email notice when new results are posted or some action is required. Apparently this is not the case with AncestryDNA.

I am a big fan of the databases available through Ancestry.com. I even own a small amount of stock in the company. However, I have never warmed up to Ancestry's DNA services. Along with a majority of genetic genealogists, I have found that the tests offered were not the most robust and that the after testing customer support was almost non-existent. With all the hype surrounding the launch of an autosomal test I was hoping this would change.

Back in May I submitted a sample to AncestyDNA to explore the new autosomal product that is now  being introduced. Last night I realized that enough time had passed that I could expect results to be available. I logged in. To my great dismay I found a message telling me that not enough DNA had been recovered from my spit sample to conduct the test. I was advised to click on a button to request a second collection kit. I don't know how long it would have been before any thing would happened if I had not logged in to check. 


I would have appreciated it if AncestryDNA had done one or more of the following:
1. Automatically sent me a new collection kit;
2. Emailed me that there was a problem; &/or
3. Flagged my Ancestry account so that I would have been notified the next time I logged in to search one of its databases -- which I do at least once almost every day.
I realize that my experience may be a deviation from the norm. However, it does make me wonder if AncestryDNA has really gotten the message about how important customer support is in this marketplace. This is the primary element in past that has caused experience genetic genealogists to recommend to potential customers that they would be better served by testing with other labs.


My concerns were intensified this morning when I read CeCe Moore's latest blog post "An Important Update on SMGF from Dr. Tim Janzen". Both CeCe and Tim are experienced genetic genealogists at the top of their games. Whether or not you have provided DNA samples and/or pedigree charts to SMGF, serious genealogists will appreciate the potential treasure trove of information the Sorenson Foundation project has collected. Now that all that information (both processed and unprocessed) appears to be headed to Ancestry.com, the genealogical community needs to encourage AncestryDNA to provide access in a customer friendly manner. 


It would appear that AncestryDNA has a good grasp of the science of DNA testing and the use of web pages to market to its 1.7 million subscribers. The company has major recent acquisitions to absorb and appears to be setting its self up to be acquired by some larger entity. Let us hope that customer care will be strengthened in these turbulent corporate times.  

1940 US Census Index Update

Eager researchers now have two sources to find indexes for parts of the images for the 1940 US Census. As previously reported in this blog, a huge team of volunteers has been very busy indexing these images by name and location. Now Ancestry has announced that it is beginning to bring up indexes of full states. Currently only Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Nevada and New York are searchable by name there.


 It is important for researchers to realize that there are at least two separate projects racing to complete indexes to this census. While Delaware and Nevada are searchable by both and it appears that Maine will be very soon, New York and the District of Columbia are not in that category. New York, the most populist state in 1940 is only 47% indexed by the consortium headed by FamilySearch and Archives.com. So if your ancestors were in New York, you will need to look for them on Ancestry. If you don't have a subscription, don't worry. This census will be accessible there free of charge at least through 2013. 


On the other hand the consortium announced yesterday that it had passed the halfway point of its index of all 132 million names enumerated that year:

The 1940 U.S. Census Community Project announced today that its searchable index of 1940 U.S. census records has reached – and surpassed – the halfway mark toward completion. Thanks to the efforts of more than 125,000 volunteers, more than 75 million names from the 1940 U.S. census have been indexed with 18 state records already available to the public on all Project partner websites, including the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Archives.com, FamilySearch.org and findmypast.com. The records will also be made available in more than 7,000 public libraries nationwide in the coming months by ProQuest. The national service project, the first and largest of its kind, aims to establish a comprehensive searchable database and make the 1940 U.S. census records available for free.

You will need to check on the progress of both of these ambitious projects every few days if you have not yet been able to find the record for you ancestors in the 1940 Census. How have your searches been going so far?

1940 US Census Name Indexing Status

I am amazed at how fast the 1940 Census is being indexed. The images have been available for just 2 months and many states are completely indexed and can be searched by name. These include:

New Hampshire

Vermont

Delaware

Virginia

Florida

Kansas

Colorado

Wyoming

Arizona

Utah

Idaho

Nevada

Oregon

Alaska

Some of these are small state which were relatively easy to index, but Virginia and Florida? Even California is 97% indexed. On the other hand, Illinois where most of my wife’s ancestors were living is only 28% complete; North Carolina is only 15% complete and Tennessee 25%. Unfortunately until these states are completely indexed, searching by name will not be available.


Several other states are 100% indexed but are not yet searchable by name because the indexes have not be fully processed. They will be available soon.  They include:
Alabama
Mississippi
Louisiana
Oklahoma
South Dakota
Montana
Washington

You can check on the status of your favorite state. After you have clicked on the link in the previous sentence, run your cursor over your state of interest. 


Thank you to Family Search for taking the lead in this huge volunteer effort. And thank you to the volunteers who have made this possible because of their "love of the game." This is a great service to the genealogical community.