Yesterday while my newest son-in-law was here, I asked a few questions about his family and entered new names into my family tree. Within a few minutes, I had quite a lot of history. He did not know his grandfather at all. His grandfather died in 1966 and my son-in-law wasn't born until 1985. I was even able to pull up his father's enlistment information. He was truly astonished that information came up that easy on ancestry.com.
I can hardly wait 47 days, when ancestry.com will have the 1940 census available. I enjoy the census reports because I can get the names of people and their children and approximate birth dates. The census also lists states or countries of every one including the parents. The occupations are listed as well, however, people in rural areas were mostly farmers.
My favorite census report is 1900 as it not only lists the ages, but also the year and month of birth. I don't read all the census reports, but I read any that are closely connected to me. One thing you need to remember when reading any census report, and that is the report is only as good as the understanding of the census taker.
Birth registers are not as good as I would hope as babies sometimes registered well after the birth, called delayed registration. I suppose many doctors could not send the information in as soon as the birth occurred.
Military records, such as draft cards and enlistment papers, have a wealth of information. Many list the next of kin, place of work, occupation residence and is more accurate for birth dates.
Happy hunting!
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