Thank you, Mary, for sharing your approach. I have a sort of combination going. I have previously hesitated in posting it, not wanting to be "shot down." I enter census Events, and include in the Event Notes a description of the person within the household. If there's other nifty information, I include it there. (like the homesick wife) Also, I am entering husband/wife census events as one marriage event. Their appearance on censuses before marriage or after death of spouse are on the individual.
Examples of an Event Notes entry: They were 38 and 37 years old, keeping shop, with 6 or their 8 children still living at home. Sally's brother and his family lived two doors down. OR He was age 20, living with his parents and 3 siblings. He was the census enumerator! I cite the source for every piece of data I have gleaned from the census, but what I write in the Event Notes is what strikes me as being interesting to the reader. Also, I will enter Occupation events for the individuals a lot of the time, and sometimes a Residence event... like, when I can see the address on the census sheet. --Paula in Texas Researching: Adair Baker Betz Bigley Blagrave Burton Chapman Clement Clough Coppernoll Costine Daulton Dinwiddie Doody Ellis Exline Field Floran Floyd Gates Goodale Gordon Gump Harbaugh Hopkins Hughes Jones Koyle Laswell McDonald Misner Passwaters Pelton Roberts Roche Ryburn Sullivan Williams ----- Original Message ---- From: Mary Trogg <marytr...@gmail.com> To: LegacyUserGroup@legacyfamilytree.com Sent: Wednesday, September 16, 2009 10:18:33 AM Subject: Re: [LegacyUG] Entering US Census Information I've struggled to find a balance between dry facts and bringing the information to life and have come up with this labor intensive compromise. I enter all census data under one event; census. The description is the years I have for the individual. I add a copy to the picture gallery of the census. I lump source everything by census year and put all information for an individual on the detail text screen. I also add a picture here. I do it this way so that whatever screen I'm on, I can see the image and I don't have to close sources to see the information about the individual. I spend a lot of time on the sources screen and it helps to compare source information too. Finally, as I find facts, I add to a short biography to notes. It's more interesting to read that a family moved from one state to another because the wife was hopelessly homesick, than to read the family lived in Minnesota, moved to Illinois and then back to Minnesota. I can choose to print either notes or events or both on a report depending on the recipient. Like I said labor intensive, but it appeals to my compulsive nature. I'm sure there are flaws to this system, but I print few reports and so far it works for me. Mary Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyfamilytree.com/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
