On the surface, transcribing appears to be easy work. It is not. Difficulty exists, at times, in reading the handwritten information recorded by the enumerator. Beyond the handwriting, the names are not always familiar because some of them or very contemporary with their entry period, as well as the fact that names can be spelled in a variety of ways. Accuracy is also a concern. As we transcribe and transfer the entries, we have to be very careful to enter the correct information on the correct line. If our entries are off then we are responsible for providing inaccurate information for researchers who use our database as a resource.
One question I might ask, given the data, is what circumstances led to certain women being listed as head of household. Were these women widows? Had they been deserted by their husbands? Were they divorced? How were they accepted in the community? What type of living were they able to earn as female heads of household?
The pattern which I found most interesting was the common practice of grownup children with their spouses, living in their parents homes. This is so different from the way American families live today, in separate homes, separate towns, even separate regions of the county.
Melody
