Sepia Saturday 616. First in a new series about family history discoveries in the recently released 1950 U.S. census.
This week I experienced the magical moment of finding myself in the recently-released 1950 U.S. census — my first census appearance!
I was just over 2 months old when census-taker Margaret Gardner came calling on April 7, 1950. Yet she diligently cataloged me with my parents, maternal grandparents and aunt in the flat we shared at 45 Grand Street, No. 137 in Gloversville, Fulton, New York.
Et voilà, there I am at number 26 on the census form shown below — and with my first name misspelled, too (almost a rite of census passage).
A few surprises
Although I knew my parents had moved in with my maternal grandparents after I was born, the census entries nevertheless contained a few surprises.
Surprise No. 1. I thought I was six months old when my mom and dad made the move. Yet there I am at just 2 months old in the three-generation household in April 1950 — and with an “X” penciled next to my name, which merits further research.
Surprise No. 2. Then there are my grandmother Elizabeth (Stoutner) Laurence’s answers to the “extra questions,” since she was entry number 22. She indicates she has one year of college (C1) — not a surprise, as I already knew she attended a teacher training course at what is now State University of New York at Oneonta.
But in the column asking “Did you finish this grade?” she marked “No.” I always thought she completed the course. Now I’m wondering if her training was cut short when, at 18, she eloped with my grandfather Antonio Laurence. Again, more research to do!
Was anybody working?
Surprise No. 3. In work-related column 15, my grandmother and my mom — Peg (Laurence) Charboneau — both put “H” for homemaker, as expected.
However my mom’s sister Aunt Rita, my dad Norm Charboneau (an Engineer in the Television industry) and my grandfather Tony Laurence (a Mechanic at a Garage) all put “OT” — the code for “other,” according to the 1950 Census Instructions for Enumerators.
Aunt Rita was in college studying to be a blood bank technician, so her answer makes sense. However, my grandfather and my dad both indicated that they had not worked the previous week (col. 16), they were looking for work (col. 17) and that neither had a job or business (col. 18).
What a surprise to discover that nobody in the household was working at census time, so more sleuthing to do.
A fascinating snapshot
There is still much to unpack about the 1950 census entries for the three-generation Laurence-Charboneau household.
Yet I am thrilled to have access to this fascinating snapshot of the ancestors who surrounded me at the start of my life.
Stay tuned for more as I take a deeper dive into all that the 1950 census entries have to tell — and explore the backstories that the data reveals.
Up next, Gloversville’s 45 Grand Street in 1950. Meanwhile, please visit the blogs of this week’s other Sepia Saturday participants.
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