Monday, February 28, 2011

Platts in the 1892 NY State Census

Familysearch.org recently launched an update to their site, as well as uploading a bunch of searchable databases with images that were not online before, such as the 1892 and 1905 NY State Censuses.  Since many of the people discussed in this blog were in New York at that time, this is a hefty and exciting present!

New York  took a census of its people every 5 years: the Federal one on the 10's (1850, 1860, 1870...) and the State one on the 5's (1855, 1865...) until I believe 1915.   The State Census is not as detailed as the Federal one was, but still can provide some important clues.  It will pin somebody down to a place at a certain time, helping with establishing timelines and movements, or show changes in family status (or not), which can be important.  While it doesn't show much for the Platts, nor solve the mystery of John's disappearance, there are other family members it does spill some light on.  I'll detail them in later blogs, but wanted to finish with the Platts before moving on.

The 1892 Census was digitized in two page spreads with each side containing two columns of names and information.  That's quite a lot of information to view at one time, so I've snipped it, showing only the information about the Platts:

Header (not shown; handwritten information underlined, rest is boilerplate):
Page 4
Enumeration of the inhabitants living in the Third Election District of the First Ward of the City of Lockport in the County of Niagara, New York on Feb. 16, 1892. [signature of census taker]

Columns:  Name, M/F, Age, Color, In what Country born, Citizen or Alien, Occupation


Albert J. Platt,  M, 20, blank (meaning White), Canada, C(itizen), Mechanic
Thomas Platt,  M, 18, blank, Canada, C, Painter

Their mother, below:

Sarah Platt,  F,  43, blank,  England, C, Domestic (meaning she either cleaned houses or was a servant)