Sometimes you just can't find someone in the US census, even if you're sure they're there. Sometimes they were just missed (I believe this to be the case for my 1-year-old grandfather and his parents in 1920). But sometimes there's a transcription or other issue, and they're there. Here's how I was able to locate a relative who I knew HAD to have been recorded in the 1940 census, but whom I just couldn't find.
Samuel Isadore LaFond (yes, they used that spelling) was my third cousin three times removed. He was born in Detroit to Louis and Bessie LaFond and was their only child for whom I have found a record. Bessie died when Sam was very young.
I have Louis and Sam living in Detroit in the 1930 census. I have Sam registering for the draft in 1942, also in Detroit. But I simply could not find the two of them in the 1940 census, even using all sorts of wildcards to try to find LaFonds.
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| Samuel Isadore LaFond WWII Draft Registration, 1942; Ancestry.com |
