Inspirational Message

Inspirational Message

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Researching in the Kansas State Census

Today, I am looking for Logan and Hedrick families in the Kansas State Census on Ancestry.com.

One of the search results I found was for this family:


The last two children came up in my search results.  Now, I realize it can be difficult to index images, but seriously.  The last two children are indexed as Hedrick when they are clearly Pritchard.  Notice also, the census enumerator's notation that the two 10-year-old children are "twins" when they have different surnames.  

The youngest child is indexed at R A T Hedrick and his brother is listed as Wm A Hedrick.  

I did find Alpheus M (aka Alf) Logan, who is noted in the manuscript I own as simply Alf with no birth information and a note that he died in 1930.  Another notes states simply "Married late in life and soon separated."   Alf lived in several Western Kansas counties during his lifetime.  Mostly farming. I didn't find him listed in any census with a spouse.  He is single in 1915 and living in Haskell County and divorced, living in Pratt County with his mother, Elizabeth, in 1920.  Another mystery to solve!

I did come upon another mystery to solve as well.  Eva Hedrick age 16 in the household of W R Logan.  W R and Nancy (Logan) Hedrick are siblings.  Nancy Hedrick had one child, William. William doesn't have a child named Eva.  I also found Charles Hedrick living in Reno County who could be the Charley Hedrick residing with Nancy Hedrick in the 1880 Census in Greene County, Missouri.  We'll see how this one plays out.

I do like census records for the clues they provide, although, there are times they lead you astray.