I Succumbed

I wasn't interested in searching the 1940 U.S. Census. I had no interest because I already knew plenty about family members who were living in 1940. I knew when and where they were born, who their parents were, their occupations, their spouses and marriage dates, when they died. I didn't think the census could give me much more information.

Then I learned what questions were being asked in the census and my curiosity was piqued. Still, I decided I would wait till the census was indexed before searching for them. That post I wrote about finding Enumeration Districts (E.D.) and maps? I looked up the Ridge to write the post but I didn't write down the E.D. I really wasn't going to search until it was indexed.

But something happened. Mineral Ridge is such a small village -- a long Main Street with just a few short side streets. It wouldn't take long to have a quick look. Then I realized it was the last census in which I would find four of my great-grandparents. Next, I became curious about where my father worked and how much he earned; and about my grandfather who lived a few doors away. One thing led to another. . . . And I succumbed.

There's something about seeing an ancestor's name on a document, especially a document with so much information in it. I guess you could say curiosity got the best of me. That can't be a bad thing when it's family history we're talking about, right?



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