Sidney Riley Family 1940 Census

Ancestry.com has uploaded all the 1940 Census forms!  They are not indexed (which means they are not searchable by name yet) but they are working day and night to get it done.  They have finished Delaware and Nevada.  They are currently on District of Columbia.


If you know the street and a cross street, you can look up using the Enumeration District.  Fortunately, I knew the street address where my father's family was living in 1940.  I had to search through two districts.  They weren't in the first (26 pages) and found them on page 20 (of 36) of the second.  Sidney and Selma are at the bottom of this page, with three sons and the youngest three sons are on the next page. 


It is a little hard to read, remember you can click on the picture to make it bigger.

They lived at 504 Gage Street.  Sid was employed for 40 hours a week at a Rubber Company (we know it was Goodyear) in the Experimental Department.  He made $2400 per year in 1939 and worked 52 weeks.  Selma was not employed.  They owned their home, valued at $2000.  He was 42 and Selma 41.  My dad, Ramon, was five at the time the census was taken.


If you want me to find any 1940 Records for you, email me with the city, state, street and cross street (you can find the cross street by looking at Google Maps) and I'll see what I can do for you.

Working with New Ancestry.com records

I spent a lot of time today working with the new databases that Ancestry.com just released.  Unfortunately, I don't have much to show for it.  The birth records for Ohio are very spotty.  The original records are posted so it is not clear where the information came from exactly.  For example, I found a record for Selma Brueggeman's birth.  It is just an index record referencing the Family History Library in Salt Lake.  There was a record for a M.D. Brueggeman.  The dates and place on the index match to Selma's sister, Linda Dorthea.    


I guess the lesson is that these records aren't complete.  I searched for all the Riley boys, my mother and her siblings, and myself and not one name had a record.


So instead of an interesting post full of information, I'll post a picture:

Selma in front, Lydia and Linda in the back

Unknown in the middle

Date Unknown but I would guess 1917-1919

The Anniversary of Sid and Selma

It is funny how things work out!  Ancestry.com just released a ton of new resources TODAY in celebration of their 15th Anniversary.  In particular interest to me were the Marriage and Birth Records from Summit County Ohio.  I usually have a calendar in front of me when doing my blog postings but I haven't looked at it in several days.  I'll get to how these are connected in a second.


The Summit County marriage records are the applications for a marriage license.  They have posted records between 1840 and 1980. These records are really great because they include the occupations of both the bride and groom, parents' names, mothers' maiden names, signatures, addresses, where the marriage took place.  Just great information!


Now to connect the dots..I found Sid Riley and Selma Brueggeman's License and TODAY is their anniversary!  They were married in 1924. 

Don't forget to click on it to enlarge it.