I Found My Dad in the 1950 US Census

The 1950 US Census was released two days ago on April 1st. Thank you to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for making this census available and for the ability to search the census. The search ability was made possible through optical character recognition (OCR) and artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning so the search function may not be accurate. I was able to find my dad, Jan A. Iverson, by searching for his stepfather, Wayne Crawford. ¹

Here's the page of the 1950 census showing my dad living in the household of his stepfather, Wayne Crawford, and his mother, Ingrid. The family was living in Portland, Multnomah, Oregon. I highlighted my dad in a red box. My grandmother, Ingrid, was one of the people on this page who were asked additional questions. Her answers were included at the bottom of the page. They are also highlighted in a red box.

Here's a close-up of my dad's family:

Information about my dad:

Address: 6925 N. Amherst

Name: Jan A. Iverson

Relationship: Stepson

Race: W

Sex: M

Age: 14

Marital Status: Never married

Birthplace: California

What was this person doing most of last week? Other

Did this person do any work at all last week? No

Was this person looking for work? No

Does this person have a job or business? No

And here's the bottom of the census page with answers by my grandmother highlighted in red:

Additional information about my grandmother, Ingrid:

Was she living in the same house a year ago? Yes
Was she living on a farm a year ago? No
Was she living in this same county a year ago? Yes
What country were her father and mother born in? Father: Sweden, Mother: Sweden
What is the highest grade of school that she has attended? S2
Did she finish this grade? No
Has she attended school at any time since February 1st? 30 or over
Last year, in how many weeks did this person do any work at all, not counting work around the house: None
Income received by this person in 1949: None in each category

If I had not already known that Ingrid's parents were from Sweden, this additional information section would have given me that information. This section also provided information that she had lived at the same house and in the same county in 1949. It was also interesting to see the highest grade of school that she had attended. The code was S2 for her. At the bottom of the page the codes are explained. The code S2 was within the elementary school codes. I am surprised to learn that her highest grade level may have been second grade in elementary school. I have to wonder if that code was incorrect. Interestingly, in her vocal history Ingrid said, "mother did not start me in first grade until I was eight years old."² And in her Book of Remembrance, Ingrid wrote that when she was fourteen years old her family sold their home in Salt Lake City and moved to Los Angeles, California due to the Depression.³ She also said, "I worked there at a home as a mothers helper" and that "because of finances" she and one of her sisters were not able to finish school. The family history memories that she wrote in her Book of Remembrance were written in cursive. Because of this, I believe she must have had more than a second-grade education. I am so thankful that she wrote about her life in this Book of Remembrance and that my dad interviewed her in 1977.

To search the 1950 US Census at NARA, click HERE.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2022 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

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1 1950 U.S. census, Multnomah Co., OR, Portland, ED 37-566, sheet 16, household 192, line 23, Jan A. Iverson; U.S. National Archives, _1950 Census_ (https://1950census.archives.gov/search/ : accessed 1 April 2022).^↩

2 Crawford, Ingrid (Gillberg), Antioch, California. Interview by Jan Albert Iverson, 11 July 1977. Audio and transcript. Privately held by Jana Last, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Clovis, California. 2022.^↩

3 Crawford, Ingrid (Gillberg), Blue Book of Remembrance, Privately held by Jana Last, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Clovis, California, 2022. ^↩

Almost At The Finish Line

I am almost at the finish line of my journey to earn my Bachelor's Degree in Professional Studies from BYU-Idaho. I graduate with my degree on April 7, 2022. In addition to my bachelor's degree, I will be getting my AAS Degree in Family History Research from BYU-Idaho. I am so excited about earning both of these degrees! I began this journey three years ago when my application was approved for the BYU Pathway Worldwide Program. That program took a full year; three continuous semesters in which I earned fifteen credits towards my degrees. After my year in the Pathway Program I transferred to BYU-Idaho as an online student. 

I have taken four classes each semester at BYU-Idaho except for one in which I took three classes, and this semester in which I am taking two classes.

I am taking my capstone class for my AAS Degree in Family History Research and a math class this semester. Last week I turned in the final draft of my multi-generational research paper for the my family history class. Yay! This was a multi-week project. I chose the ICAPgen four-generation research report for my project. It was a lot of work, but I have learned so much. My research log for this project was over 150 pages. It included citations, search results, analysis/microreporting, etc.

This semester is winding down. I finished my assignments in my math class and just need to finish and turn in one more homework assignment for my family history class and then I will be done. Yay!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2022 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

Little Eugene Webster's Birth Record

In my previous post, I shared the birth record of Alicia Bell Webster, the youngest child of my maternal great-grandparents, Frederick Emory Webster and Esther Matus Villatoro. In that post I also shared the exciting news that I had found the birth record of Eugene Webster, another child of Frederick and Esther (Matus Villatoro) Webster. I also said that I would share Eugene's birth record in a future post. So, today I will share Eugene's birth record here on my blog.¹ In his birth record his first name was listed as Eugenio instead of Eugene.

I highlighted the names of Frederick, Esther, Eugenio, and the grandparents, Ebenezer and Cynthia Webster. For some reason, Esther's parents were not included in this birth record. They were included in the birth record for Eugenio's sister, Alicia Bell Webster.² Eugene and his younger sister, Alicia Bell, were both born in Bacacheri, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil.

Information in Eugenio's birth record:

Name: Eugenio Webster
Event Type: Birth Registration
Event Place: Bacacheri, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
Sex: Male
Birth Date: 3 December 1915
Father's Name: Frederico Emory Webster
Mother's Name: Esther Matus Webster
Certificate Number: 38461

Frederick Emory Webster stated in his 1917 U.S. Consular Registration Application that Eugenio's full name was Eugene Rollin Webster.³ I'm glad that Frederick left such a rich paper trail due to his travels. I've learned a lot from these documents.

Sadly, Eugene and his sister Alicia Bell did not live to adulthood. I still do not know their exact dates of death. Hopefully I will be able to locate their death records in the future.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2021 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

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1 "Brasil, Paraná, Registro Civil, 1852-1996," database with images, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 20 June 2021), certificate image, Eugenio Webster, 3 December 1915, no. 38461; citing Corregedor Geral da Justicia da Paraná (Paraná General Justice Office), Curitiba.
2 "Brasil, Paraná, Registro Civil, 1852-1996," database with images, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9396-Q699-B4 : accessed 20 June 2021), certificate image, Alicia Bell Webster, 10 May 1918, no. 42988; citing Corregedor Geral da Justicia da Paraná (Paraná General Justice Office), Curitiba.

3 "U.S., Consular Registration Applications, 1916-1925," database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 December 2012), Frederick Emory Webster, 29 August 1917, no. 10239; citing Department of State, Division of Passport Control Consular Registration Applications, roll #32734_620305173_0258.

Little Alice Webster's Birth Record

In a previous post I shared the exciting news that I had discovered the birth record of Alice Webster, the youngest child of my maternal great-grandparents, Frederick Emory Webster and Esther Matus Villatoro.

My readers may remember that I refer to Frederick Emory Webster as "The Traveling Dentist" here on my blog. He practiced dentistry in three countries: The United States of America, Mexico, and Brazil. Because of his travels, it was challenging to know where to look for vital records for his family. I'm thankful for the recent hint on FamilySearch that led me to Frederick and Esther's marriage record.

Their marriage did not take place at the time or place I would have expected. Because they were married in Curitiba, Brazil, I decided to do some research in that locality and was able to find the birth records for their two youngest children, Alice and Eugene. Yay!

Here is Alice's birth record.¹ In this birth record I learned that her actual name was Alicia Bell Webster.

Frederick signed his name on the second page of the document. It's always fun to see an ancestor's signature.

I highlighted the names of Frederick, Esther, Alicia Bell, and the grandparents, Ebenezer and Cynthia Webster, and Raymundo Matus (should be Raymunda). The inclusion of the grandparents' names provides evidence that this birth record is for my Frederick and Esther's daughter, and not another Frederick and Esther's daughter. It's so great and helpful when grandparents are named on documents.

Because I do not speak Portuguese, I used Google Translate to help me understand this birth record. I am not seeing an actual birth date on the record, but FamilySearch states that Alicia's birth date was 10 May 1918. If Google Translate is correct, it looks like Frederick reported his daughter's birth on 11 May 1918.

Sadly, Alicia Bell did not live to adulthood. I am glad to finally have her birth record, but I still do not have her death record. I'm also glad I was able to find the birth record of Alicia's brother, Eugene. I will share Eugene's birth record in a future post.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2021 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

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1 "Brasil, Paraná, Registro Civil, 1852-1996," database with images, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9396-Q699-B4 : accessed 20 June 2021), certificate image, Alicia Bell Webster, 10 May 1918, no. 42988; citing Corregedor Geral da Justicia da Paraná (Paraná General Justice Office), Curitiba.^↩

My Ancestors' Signatures

In my previous post, I shared the news that the marriage record of my maternal great-grandparents, Frederick Emory Webster and Esther Matus Villatoro, included their signatures. It's so fun to see the signatures of ancestors on documents. I have already seen Frederick's signature on other documents, but I don't think I've ever seen Esther's signature before. So, her marriage record is not only valuable from the standpoint of the information it contains, but also because it includes her signature.

In my post about their marriage record, I also said that I needed to add Esther's signature to my blog's "My Ancestors' Signatures page. I have now done that. On that page I have signatures of other ancestors including the signature of my 6th great-grandfather, John Waterman. His signature was from his Last Will and Testament dated 3 January 1742/3 when he was about seventy years of age. If you would like to check out the "My Ancestors' Signatures" page on my blog, click HERE, or you can just go to my blog's home page and click on the "My Ancestors' Signatures" tab.

Seeing the signatures of our ancestors on documents is such a treat. Do you collect your ancestors' signatures?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2021 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved