What Date was Census Day?

Viola W Cooke Agee & her big sister Magnus Cooke Snoddy
Daughters of Thomas DeWitt Cooke Sr. & Pearl Gray Jakes Cooke

If you are the least bit interested in family history research and have family that live/lived in the USA you are probably getting prepared for the release of the 1950 US Federal Census.  I've had the locations for Mom and for Dad written down in my notes for awhile but this week I looked them up on the Enumeration District maps to make sure I had those numbers.  Sure it's going to be sort of indexed but most indexes can be problematic even in the best of times.  Add to that the fact that I love to be prepared.  

My Dad's 2nd oldest sibling was Viola White Cooke.  She was born in 1915.  While I know that Cook/Cooke regardless of spelling is a common name I would not have thought that Viola was somewhat common but apparently it was for that time period.  In fact, there was another Viola White Cook born in 1919.  They both lived in Marshall Co. TN.  They are both included in the 1920 census living in the household of their fathers.  Both fathers were named Tom and born in the 1880 time frame.

There are key differences of course--the birth year for the two Violas, The mother's names(Pearl vs. Rosa), siblings names etc.  The other Viola White Cook died Feb 21, 1920.  😥 Because the 1920 census used January 1st as the census day, she was included in the 1920 census despite having only lived for 3 months and 11 days.  As far as I know these two Cook/Cooke families were not related.  If they are connected it will be before the early 1800s.  My Cook research has been stalled at identifying the parents of my 2nd Great Grandfather for the entire 31 years I've been researching.  I am somewhat familiar with the ancestry of the other Tom Cook as he descends from Thomas Cook and Permelia Marcum.

Census Day for the US Federal Census 1790-2020

1790            1st Monday in Aug(Aug. 2nd)

1800            1st Monday in Aug(Aug. 4th)

1810            1st Monday in Aug(Aug. 6th)

1820            1st Monday in Aug(Aug. 7th)

1830-1880   June 1st

1890            June 2nd           

1900            June 1st

1910            April 15th

1920            January 1st

1930-2020    April 1st

I should note that my Aunt Viola White Cooke had also been "confused" with another Viola Cook from the Memphis TN area who was born around 1915 and had parents named Tom and Pearl.  My family name didn't have the E on the end of Cooke in any records I can find until about the 1930s.  

Sources:

United States Census Bureau. "What day was the census taken each decade?" December 9, 2021. https://www.census.gov/.

Viola White Cooke Agee(daughter of Tom Cooke & Pearl Gray Jakes Cooke)

"United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNRS-SM9 : 3 February 2021), Vaiola Cook in entry for T D Cook, 1920.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/34100297/thomas-dewitt-cooke : accessed 05 February 2022), memorial page for Thomas Dewitt Cooke Sr. (13 Jul 1888–18 Mar 1971), Find a Grave Memorial ID 34100297, citing Mount Olivet Cemetery, Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee, USA ; Maintained by rmbeckman (contributor 48136157) .

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/34100383/pearl-gray-cooke : accessed 05 February 2022), memorial page for Pearl Gray Jakes Cooke (21 Mar 1891–1 Jul 1993), Find a Grave Memorial ID 34100383, citing Mount Olivet Cemetery, Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee, USA ; Maintained by rmbeckman (contributor 48136157) .

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/25665088/viola-white-agee : accessed 05 February 2022), memorial page for Viola White Cooke Agee (12 Jun 1915–18 Oct 2006), Find a Grave Memorial ID 25665088, citing Mount Olivet Cemetery, Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee, USA ; Maintained by rmbeckman (contributor 48136157) .

Viola White Cook(daughter of Tom Cook & Rosie Joyce Cook)

"United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNRS-96Q : 3 February 2021), Viola Cook in entry for Tom Cook, 1920.

"Tennessee Deaths, 1914-1966," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N9PP-3LG : 23 February 2021), Viola White Cook, 21 Feb 1920; Death, Chapel Hill, Marshall, Tennessee, United States, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/96382633/tom-cook : accessed 05 February 2022), memorial page for Tom Cook (1883–1924), Find a Grave Memorial ID 96382633, citing Smyrna Cemetery, Chapel Hill, Marshall County, Tennessee, USA ; Maintained by Larry Haynes (contributor 47214604) .

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/96382124/rosie-cook : accessed 05 February 2022), memorial page for Rosie Joyce Cook (Jul 1889–1937), Find a Grave Memorial ID 96382124, citing Smyrna Cemetery, Chapel Hill, Marshall County, Tennessee, USA ; Maintained by Larry Haynes (contributor 47214604) .

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/96382642/viola-cook : accessed 05 February 2022), memorial page for Viola Cook (1919–1919), Find a Grave Memorial ID 96382642, citing Smyrna Cemetery, Chapel Hill, Marshall County, Tennessee, USA ; Maintained by Larry Haynes (contributor 47214604) .