Genealogists love census records because they allow us to follow an ancestor’s life decade by decade. They are often the low hanging branches we use to begin climbing the family tree and the foundation blocks for building biographical profiles. However, because we use them so frequently and access them so easily, we are in danger of taking them for granted, assuming we know what data they contain, or glancing over their columns too haphazardly.

For women, these records are particularly important because they are one of few that were intended to account for both males and females, though initially only those who were free and white. In the early years, when only the head of household was listed by name, the women and girls in the home were reduced to numbers in columns organized by sex and age, just as the men and boys were, but they are nevertheless represented. Enumerations became more detailed each decade, increasing the opportunity to observe important clues about our female ancestors. For some of the women in our family tree, census records may be the only government document in which we find them listed. These neighborhood roll calls may also provide the only evidence of their living situations as they advanced from girlhood to womanhood or from daughter to wife.

It is essential that we examine the original census pages, as opposed to only the typed transcriptions. We need to look closely at every field for clues and context that might lead to new research paths: household members, neighbors, occupations, incomes, education, health, and so on.

The where and when of each enumeration enables us to plot our ancestors' lives on maps and timelines. This geographical and chronological context pinpoints locations where we should also look for other types of records.