You Can Read Handwritten Documents! -- Looking at the 1940 US Census Post #4

 

http://loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3g01801/

Note: This is not really a series although reading all the posts on this topic are useful. If you want to find additional topics, do a Google search for the first part of the post name and add the term "Genealogy's Star, like this "you can read handwritten documents! genealogy's star"

One of the best places to start learning handwriting recognition skills is by reading and in some cases, transcribing, the United States Federal Census records from 1790 to 1940. Later Census records as they become available will not be as helpful because of a transition to different forms that require fewer manual handwritten entries. You should also start with the 1940 U.S. Federal Census because deciphering the handwriting becomes more difficult as you go back in time to 1790. 

It is important when doing research for people who lived in the United States between the years 1790 and 1940 that you search for census records for each member of the family for all the years they could have been included in the census. Some children who are born and die within the ten years between censuses will not appear. You may also have a few people who were not recorded in one or more census years for a variety of reasons but searching the records and adding each census record as a source provides a good basic set of documents about the ancestor or relative's life. 

Here I go looking at the handwriting in the 1940 U.S. Federal Census records. 

"United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9M1-L9XL?cc=2000219&wc=QZX1-LY9%3A790102301%2C790102302%2C790102303%2C950766501: accessed 14 November 2020), Arizona > Apache > Supervisorial District 1 > 1-3 Supervisorial District 1 bounded by (N) Little Colorado River, Carrizo Wash; (E) Highway 61, Temple, Highway 81; (S) supervisorial district line; (W) county line; also Concho, St. John's (part) > image 9 of 46; citing Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012.

This is really the entire citation to this page of the Census. I got this citation from Information about this image on FamilySearch.org. Whenever you attach a census record as a source to FamilySearch.org or any other program or website, please take the time to add a complete citation to the source (where you found) the record. 

Census records were handwritten by the Census Enumerator. Here is the explanation of the process from the National Archives' article, entitled, "About the 1940 Census."

Unlike more recent censuses, the 1940 census was taken entirely by census enumerators going door to door and collecting information. If a person wasn't home when the census taker came, the census taker would make a return visit. People who were counted on return visits are listed at the end of the regular pages for the enumeration district on pages that begin with number 61.

You can tell by the handwriting when there was a change in the enumerator. The type of handwriting most commonly used was the Palmer Method. Here is a description of the method from Wikipedia: Palmer Method.

The method developed around 1888 and was introduced in the book Palmer's Guide to Business Writing (1894). Palmer's method involved "muscle motion" in which the more proximal muscles of the arm were used for movement, rather than allowing the fingers to move in writing. In spite of opposition from the major publishers, this textbook enjoyed great success: in 1912, one million copies were sold throughout the United States. The method won awards, including the Gold Medal at the Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, in 1915, and the Gold Medal at the Sesquicentennial Exposition in Philadelphia, in 1926.

Proponents of the Palmer Method emphasized its plainness and speed, that it was much faster than the laborious Spencerian Method, and that it allowed the writer to compete effectively with the typewriter. To educators, the method's advocates emphasized regimentation, and that the method would thus be useful in schools to increase discipline and character, and could even reform delinquents.

The Palmer Method began to fall out of popularity in the 1950s and was eventually supplanted by the Zaner-Bloser method, which sought to teach children manuscript before teaching them cursive, in order to provide them with a means of written expression as soon as possible, and thus develop writing skills. The D'Nealian method, introduced in 1978, sought to address problems raised by the Zaner-Bloser method, returning to a more cursive style. The Palmer company stopped publishing in the 1980s.

Alphabet and numerals from The Palmer Method of Business Writing

If you look closely at the handwriting on the census record above, you will see that the individual's style of handwriting is only vaguely similar to the ideal represented by the Alphabet above. But closer inspection reveals that the Palmer Method is the basic style. 

Look at the "S", "D", and "L" and other capital letters. You will immediately see the similarities. Because we have an example of the style from an "official" alphabet, we can use that style sheet as a guide to deciphering any letters we cannot read. Obviously, when there are letters or words crossed-out there will be a difficulty caused by the way the document was written not just the handwriting. In addition, there are some marks on the record that are not letters but marks made by the enumerator for his or her own purposes. 

Try reading through a few pages of the 1940 Census and see what you find.