Ancestral Findings

The 1890 U.S. Census is one of the most heartbreaking gaps in American records. It leaves a missing chapter for family historians—twenty years between 1880 and 1900 when so much changed. Children grew up and left home, elders passed on, families relocated, and new generations were born. But the record meant to capture it all is mostly gone. The story of how we lost the 1890 census and how we’ve learned to work around it still has m...

I really love looking at and collecting postcards—especially vintage postcards. Here at Ancestral Findings, I’ve collected thousands and thousands of them over the years.

People have sent me postcards from their hometowns, old pictures of places that meant something to them, and scenes from all across the country—and it’s been exciting to receive each and every one of them.

So, I decided to set aside a little time to talk about som...

The 1880 census is one of my favorite records—not just because of what it tells us, but because of what it helps us feel. This is the first census where we can see families take shape on paper. For the first time, we know how everyone in the household is related to each other. We can watch grandparents living with grown children, sons-in-law starting new farms, and widowed mothers moving in with their daughters. It’s where the peop...

When people talk about the U.S. Census, most think of it as just a headcount. But by 1880, the census had become something far more powerful. It wasn’t just about population totals or determining how many representatives each state should send to Congress—although that was still its constitutional purpose. The 1880 census was the most detailed snapshot of American life ever taken up to that point. It didn’t just tell the government...

The 1870 U.S. Census is a milestone for many family historians. For those tracing African American ancestry, it often marks the very first time their ancestors appear in a public federal record by name. The names are handwritten clearly on the page—no longer separated, omitted, or counted as property. For the first time, individuals who were born into slavery are seen on equal footing with every other American, listed not as someon...

The 1870 U.S. Census might be one of the most meaningful records ever created in the history of the country. For the first time, every person—Black, white, free-born, formerly enslaved, immigrant, farmer, child, war widow—was recorded by name on the main schedule. No longer confined to tally marks or separated into slave schedules, formerly enslaved individuals finally had their names written down as citizens.

This was the country’...

As we continue through our The Forgotten Seconds series—exploring the lives of vice presidents who never became president—we now turn to one of the most unusual figures ever to hold the office. Richard Mentor Johnson, a frontier-born politician from Kentucky, lived a life of contradictions. Celebrated as a hero of the War of 1812 and known for his plain appeal to common voters, he was also scorned by many in his party for his contr...

Daniel D. Tompkins was born on June 21, 1774, in the town of Scarsdale in Westchester County, New York. He came into a world still under British rule, just two years before the colonies would declare their independence. His family roots traced back to England, where the name Tompkins derived from a form of “Little Thomas’s son,” a patronymic surname that can be found as far back as the 1300s in Kent. The Tompkins family likely came...

The 1860 U.S. Census might be one of the most emotionally charged documents in early American history. On the surface, it looks similar to 1850—names, ages, occupations, birthplaces, property values. But just beneath that is a country on the brink of war. It was taken in a moment when the United States was technically still whole, but very much coming apart.

If you’re researching ancestors during this time, the 1860 census offers a...

By the time the 1850 U.S. Census was taken, the United States was no longer a slow-growing collection of coastal settlements. It was a booming, restless, coast-to-coast land of contradictions. The population had reached over 23 million people. The western frontier had stretched all the way to California. Cities were growing fast, but most people still lived on farms. The railroad and steamboat had made the country feel smaller, eve...

The 1840 U.S. Census might be the most overlooked turning point in early American recordkeeping. On the surface, it still looks like the older ones—just one name listed, a page full of tick marks, and plenty of room for guesswork. But this was a census taken on the edge of transformation. The United States was about to change fast. Railroads were spreading. The telegraph was just a few years away. Families were scattering across th...

By 1830, the United States had reached a new kind of maturity. The Revolution was no longer in living memory for some—though a surprising number of veterans were still alive and tucked into households across the country. Andrew Jackson was president, the Erie Canal had transformed trade in the North, and the South was leaning heavily on slavery and cotton. The country was bigger, louder, more divided, and more connected than ever b...

The 1820 U.S. Census rolled out during what historians often call the "Era of Good Feelings"—a peaceful name for a time that was anything but simple. The War of 1812 had ended just a few years earlier. James Monroe was president, and the country was pushing its borders westward at full speed. Tensions over slavery, expansion, and power were beginning to heat up, even though the surface looked calm.

The 1820 census is a small turni...

In 1810, the United States was only 34 years into its existence as a nation and was still figuring things out—including how to count its people. That year marked just the third official census, and while the goal was simple on paper—get a headcount of everyone in the country—the results were far from perfect.

If you’ve ever looked through the 1810 census while researching your family, you know it’s not exactly a goldmine. Entire ar...

Before the White House, before political parties fully took shape, and before America had even decided how it wanted to govern itself, there was George Clinton. He didn’t wear a powdered wig for fashion. He wore it through gun smoke and battle. A wartime general, a power-hungry governor, and one of the longest-serving public officials in early American history, Clinton seemed destined to be more than just a sidekick.

Yet despite ho...

Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was born into wealth so vast that most Americans in the early 20th century couldn’t comprehend it. Born on July 8, 1908, in Bar Harbor, Maine, his life began with a silver spoon—and possibly a silver platter. But behind the art collections, philanthropy, and power dinners at Pocantico Hills was a complex man with ambitions that extended far beyond the trappings of wealth. He wanted to be president. He tri...

Spiro Theodore Agnew, the 39th vice president of the United States, was born on November 9, 1918, in Baltimore, Maryland. His name, though Americanized, hints at his family’s rich ethnic heritage—Greek and German, two cultures steeped in tradition and history. Before his rise to national prominence and eventual disgrace, Agnew’s story began generations earlier in the Mediterranean hills of southern Greece and the Protestant communi...

April 1st often arrives with a mixture of groans and eye-rolls, especially for those who have been on the receiving end of thoughtless pranks. While some brush it off as harmless fun, others know the sting of being caught off guard—sometimes in ways that leave lasting discomfort. Behind the jokes, however, is a centuries-long story filled with cultural shifts, misunderstandings, and changing attitudes toward humor and public behavi...

You’ve probably seen it if you’ve ever driven down a sleepy road in the American South—maybe through Georgia, Louisiana, or northern Florida. Long, ghostly strands of gray-green threads dangle from oak branches like forgotten tinsel after a storm. Spanish moss sways in the breeze with a rhythm all its own, creating a scene that’s equal parts romantic and haunting. It’s one of those things you notice, even if you don’t know what it ...