Where did your family come from?

The Red Willow County 1990 census is available to search online at the society's web site: www.swngs.org . You don't have to be a member to access this information; just go to the website and scroll down to the census pages. Click on the precinct or town you wish to search. I recommend that you do this the hard way, rather than searching a particular name due to the fact that neither the census takers nor the people who converted the written census to online documents are always able to interpret the surnames properly so they may be miss-spelled or incomplete with questions marks indicating the compiler was uncertain as to the correct spelling of the name or the census copies were damaged and unreadable.

By 1910, most of the people living in Red Willow County were born in the United States. The 1910 census is interesting because it has both the country of birth for the person being counted and the country or state of birth for both his/her mother and father. This is true in a lot of censuses but in 1910 you are still viewing the results of the huge migration due to the Homestead Act.

So, when you find your ancestor, and view his family, you can actually trace how many states or countries that person lived in by tracing the generations, IE, his parents foreign born, his birth inside the United States, and the birth of any children as they migrated to Nebraska.

As an example, one of my ancestors was born in Ireland, his children born in the United States and if you follow one of his children, his grandchildren were born in Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska. How is this helpful knowledge? It gives you a basis to search different states for the family as they traveled to Nebraska which will uncover what they did as a job in each state, possible military service in a state, children who died prior to arriving in Nebraska, and children who may have grown to adulthood, married, and remained in a state while the family moved on.

Here are a few examples of the foreign born families residing in Red Willow County in 1910. I'm sure you will recognize some of the names.

From the Valley Grange Precinct: Paul Rocenburg, born in Russia and working for James Wilson as a hired man. Charles Kahl, born in Austria and farming. Robert Johnston, born in Canada, and farming. Henry Hesterwerth, a farmer born in Germany.

From the Beaver Precinct: Thomas W. Musgrave, Senior, born in England, and his wife, Isbelle, born in Canada. Elizabeth J. Springer, who was born in England and married to farmer Frank M. Springer of Ohio.

From the Tyrone Precinct: Henry Harsch and his wife, Catherina, both born in Russia and farming. William Foster and his wife, Elizabeth, both born in Russia and farming. John Ernest and his wife, Mary, both born in Switzerland and farming.

From the Grant Precinct: Mecal Crocker, farmer, born in Austro Boheman. (Bohemia was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. People claiming this heritage could also claim Czech heritage.) John Hoffman, a farmer born in Germany as well as Jacob and Marretta Wesch, both born in Germany and farming.

Join us Saturday, September 10th, for our monthly meeting at 1:30 p.m., 110 West C, Suite M-3. If you need research help, come to our library on Tuesdays or Thursdays from 1:30 to 4 p.m.