Lesson 5: Census Records

I just finished lesson 5 of the Home Study Course, offered through the NGS (National Genealogical Society), which was on census records. The assignment to turn in had two parts: I had to list available census records for each of the 15 people on my initial pedigree chart) and then take one of those ancestors, in one census year, and find other people with the same surname in that county.

The first part wasn't too hard, since I've been looking at census records since 1980. I had just about everyone's census record already.

The second part of the assignment was admittedly more interesting. I had to decide first of all, which ancestor I would pick, and then which census year. After some thought, I chose an ancestor I haven't done much research on: my great grandmother Caroline Dorsch Stoelt. (pictured above)

She was born in Germany in 1866, came to the US with her parents in the late 1880's, and settled in Huron County, Michigan (the tip of the thumb), along with a whole lot of other German families. (Note for further research: what made the Germans flock to this area? Or to Michigan in general?) She married Franz Zimmerman in 1881, and they had four sons. After Franz died of consumption in 1892, Caroline married Johann Stoelt. By the 1900 census of Fair Haven, Huron County, Michigan, the Stoelts had 4 children. My grandfather Arnold Aaron Anthony Stoelt was born six months after this census was taken, and his mother Caroline had 13 children altogether.

When I looked at the 1900 census for anyone else with the Dorsch surname, I found (as I expected) two of Caroline's brothers: John and Charles. They were both born in Germany, had married in Germany, and both had several children. But, then I found a family that looks interesting: Godfrey Dorsch, his wife Minnie, and their daughter Sarah. Who are they? Godfrey's birth date (Jan. 1852) makes him a candidate to be a brother or cousin to Caroline Dorsch. This calls for further research!

Lesson learned: When you're looking for a particular surname in an area, check all the people with that surname. They might be relatives!

On My Way

Sometime in the last year, I started cautiously exploring the idea of becoming a professional genealogist. I've been doing research for over 30 years, ever since I was handed a stack of family trees and memoirs that had belonged to my grandfather, when I was just out of high school. All along the way I've attended meetings and conferences in order to learn more, and this age of the internet seems tailor-made for me.
So last summer I attended a meeting of the Puget Sound Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists at the Kent Historical Museum. I came away thinking that yes, this is what I want to do. Last fall I joined the National Genealogical Society, and took several of their online classes - learning, most of all, that I don't know as much as I thought I did! In late November I ordered their Home Study Course in American Genealogy, and so far I've completed 5 out of the 6 lessons on it. Just last week I received CDs 2 and 3, and it looks like I'm going to get off the well-travelled path (census records, vital records, library research) and onto brand-new material (land records-drawing maps of meets and bounds; abstracting wills, exploring courthouse records).
I'm loving the journey!