How to Search Census Records on Ancestry.com

Searching online census reports provides a wealth of information for the genealogist or family historian. Ancestry.com is one of the websites that has an extensive collection of census reports. If you aren't a member, you can join the site for a free two week trial. If you decide to not join, you will need to cancel your trial membership or your credit card will be billed. Searching for ancestors on old census reports begins with a name.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. 

   Log into your Ancestry.com account and click on "Search" in the horizontal menu along the top of screen.

2. 

   Click on "Census and Voter List" in the drop down menu that appears after clicking the search link.

3. 

   Type in the name of an ancestor that you would like to search for. Include the year and place of birth, if you know it.

4. 

   Choose the year of census you would like to search, using the vertical menu along the left side of the screen. Individual census results will appear in the center of the screen.

5. 

   Select what type of matches you would like to view. For example, a five star match would only show information that exactly matches the information you inputted, while a one star would show data that is sorta kinda like what you inputted.

6. 

   Preview the various census reports that come up in the search by hovering the cursor over the "View Record" to the left of a person's name. Click "View Record" to see more.

7. 

   View the actual census by clicking on the "view original image" link in the window that opens. There you can also read the data that is on the actual census.

8. 

   View a copy of the census report. You have the ability to enlarge the image for easier reading. You can also print the image or save it to your files.

[tclough]

on 7/30/2009 Good detailed description of how to access the records.