Do You Have Ancestors in the 1925 Iowa State Census?

I receive notifications from Ancestry with Hints after working some portions of my tree.  Yesterday I had worked on my daughter's paternal lines in the branch which came from Germany and settled around Franklin County Indiana.  One of the hints for a Charles Abram Gesell, my daughter's 1st Cousin 4 times removed, pointed to information available in the Iowa State Census Collection 1836-1925. (subscription required)  

This was an entry for the year 1925.  I was amazed to see that for this particular year, they had asked for the name and birthplace of each of enumerated person's parents.  I already knew his Charles' parents names but think of the potential info for an ancestor who is the head of household.   You'd get names and birthplaces for his parents and his in-laws. They also ask for Place where the parents married.  I'm so envious of anyone who has ancestors in this census. What I wouldn't give for this information for those of my ancestor.  I have a few siblings of my direct line who lived in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio so I'm going to check this database for the rarer surnames.  I might be able to also check for the more popular ones if I narrow down by location.  Not sure that Ancestry's search is working correctly but it always seems to work better when I'm searching in one database.  There are two pages(images) of information so be sure to check the one immediately following your household of interest for the second portion of the household's entry.

I did a quick search for Acuffs(main surname, father's surname, and mother's surname.  Anyone doing a One Name Study should check out this database.  The year 1925 was one in which there was a great deal of "moving around" in the US.  During that time period, many of my Tennessee relatives were heading to other cities and states looking for work and were not where you'd expect them to be.  There are a variety of earlier Iowa state census records in this collection.  The information collected varies from each census to the next.  If you aren't subscribed to Ancestry, you may be able to access it on-site at your local library.  The Family Search Library also has several of the Iowa State Censuses including the 1925 Iowa State Census.  You will need to have a FamilySearch account(which is free) and you don't have to be an LDS member to use FamilySearch.

ProQuest Civil War Era Collection

If you have family who fought in the Civil War, don't overlook the ProQuest Civil War Era Collection. One of the items in it that I noticed was in the Pamphlets on the Civil War, 1861-1865 collection and titled

Roll of honor (no. xvii), names of soldiers who died in defence of the American Union, interred in the national and public cemeteries in Kentucky, and at New Albany, Jeffersonville, and Madison, Indiana, Lawton, (Miller), and Andersonville, Georgia, (supplementary)

It is a rather large listing(516 pages) and is just one of the many items available to search within this collection. Check with your library and see if they have ProQuest available. Also remember that your public library isn't the only library available though it is one you should fully support. Colleges and Universities often times have great Family History Collections.

Alfred & Fred have an awful lot in common

Working thru descendants of William Benton King and Eliza Jane Manire I began researching their granddaughter Edna Earle Foster.  Edna Earle was the daughter of Margaret Jordan King and William Leroy Foster.   Earle married a man by the name of Alfred Newton Mitchell.  You'd think that would be a name you don't see much...the full name at least.  I was searching thru Ancestry and I notice a link to the WWI Draft Registration Cards  One for a Alfred Newton Mitchell and another for a Fred Newton Mitchell.  So I looked at both of them wondering if he might have a double life.  Stranger things have happened.

Alfred Newton Mitchell

• DOB March 4th 1883
• Address Berwyn, Carter, Oklahoma
• Nearest Relative:  Wife Earl Mitchell
• Occupation:  Sec Foreman Gulf, Colorado & Sante Fe Railway
• White Natural Born Citizen
• Short with a medium build
• Brown Eyes and Brown Hair
• Reg. Date Sept 12, 1918

Fred Newton Mitchell

• DOB Feb 4th 1883
• Address:  Rio Grande Colorado
• DOB Feb 4th 1883
• Nearest Relative:  Wife Hanna Katherine Mitchell
• Occupation:  Stockman Farmer Self Employed
• White Natural Born Citizen
• Short with medium build
• Light Blue Eyes Dk Brown Hair
• Reg. Date Sept 12, 1918

Whew....one with blue eyes and one with brown eyes...
I did find them both in 1920 Census.  I checked that also to make sure ...and no the children don't have the same names.  :-)

I think this is how a lot of mistakes get in peoples tree...they see the Suggested Records and take them as fact and just add away.  Alfred Newton Mitchell is the father of several King descendants(specifically Descendants of Wm Benton King & wife Eliza Jane Manire)
Fred Newton Mitchell is not unless his wife Hannah Katherine Myers was a King descendant.  If she was she didn't come from the Wm B King lines.