1950 Kansas Census

Are you eagerly awaiting the release of the 1950 census? If you follow Randy Seaver's Genea-Musings blog, then you may have seen his challenge to identify members of our ancestral families that will be in the 1950 United States census.

Although it will be interesting to see the household configurations in the 1950 census, there is census data available for that time period -- IF the person lived in Kansas. Yes, that's correct, one can find census data for Kansas thru 1961. This information can be found in Ancestry's collection: Kansas, City and County Census Records, 1919-1961.

Since all of my ancestral lines were in Kansas prior to 1919, this collection has proven to be very helpful.

For example, my great-grandmother, Josie Crawford was living in Dodge City in 1950. Thus, I did a search of the collection for a Josie Crawford living in Ford County, Kansas.

Since I didn't select 'exact' for Josie's first name, the results included Josie, Jessie and even J Frank. However, at the top of the list was one Josie Crawford.

Clicking on the link to Josie took me to a screen giving her information and a link to the image.

Clicking on the image shows the household of my grandfather, Leon Crawford. In this household was my grandfather, my grandmother, Winnie, my great-grandmother, Josie, and my uncle, Leon, Jr.

Using this collection of Kansas census records, I have been able to find my grandparents and all of my great-grandparents living in 1950. This includes the following:

• Edward O. Briles (often listed as E O Briles) living in Emporia, Kansas
• Edward G. Briles listed in the 1948 census in Yates Center Kansas
• Charles Mentzer living in Neosho Falls between 1946 and 1949 and then living in Emporia in 1953

With my Kansas heritage, this set of records has been very helpful. If you have relatives living in Kansas between 1919 and 1961, be sure to check out this collection: Kansas, City and County Census Records, 1919-1961!