Why I Think The 1930 Census Is Wrong

Family hearsay is that my after my great-grandparents on my mother’s maternal side divorced, my great-grandfather kidnapped my grandmother and took her with him to live in Georgia…or Tennessee. Well, I thought it was Georgia but recently I’ve reinterpreted the rumors and now think it was Tennessee.

Anyway, it’s a sorted story and one neither my great-grandmother nor grandmother were interested in discussing with me and I never met my great-grandfather. In fact, I didn’t even know his name until this week. All I knew was that he had a reputation for being really strict and I kind of thought maybe he was a Bible-thumper but I’m not sure about that impression anymore seeing as he seems to have had multiple marriages and divorces.

All I really knew was that before he kidnapped my grandmother, she and my great-grandmother were living in Florida. I don’t know why I assumed it was Southern Florida but I did.

Anyway, I was looking for my grandmother in the 1930 Census records for Florida and I think I may have accidently found all three of them in Tampa in 1930. What’s so interesting about it is that they were all listed as boarders. My great-grandmother and grandmother were listed being in one place and my great-grandfather and grandmother were listed being in another place.

Yes, you read that correctly. If I’m right and this really is my family, my grandmother was counted twice in the 1930 Census. How funny is that?

I’m trying to get my mother to confirm or deny or say she doesn’t know if they were living in Tampa and when my great-grandparents got divorced.

Of course, if I’m right, I’ve got a whole new set of questions and none of the people who were involved are alive to ask. The excuse that my great-grandmother gave for not going to rescue my grandmother was that she couldn’t afford to go to Georgia/Tennessee to get her because she was a divorced working woman who could barely make ends meet. So, did he kidnap her in Tampa and stay awhile or was this just a shared-custody thing? Probably both “heads of households” for the places they boarded were asked for the names of boarders, which would be why grandma shows up twice. Still, it’s a shame I never got the whole story from anyone.

Meanwhile I’ve got my genealogy books and am starting to read about how to go about this whole endevour properly and I emailed my very cool aunt requesting any help she can offer as well as a lovely picture of my grandmother from when she was in high school.

tags: genealogy, 1930 census, dysfunctional family

One comment

1. on March 13, 2006 at 9:52 am

   The Naked Truth » Blog Archive » Tracing Back The Dysfunctional Roots said:

   […] Well, I’ve an update on the whole 1930 Census mystery about my grandmother.  I’ve gotten verification from my mother that my great-grandparents were living in Tampa at that time and they were separated in 1930, not divorced as I previously thought.  They had joint custody and since they were living as boarders at those residents, that explains why my grandmother shows up as a resident at both places and their names are mispelled.  (They did have oddly spelled names.) […]

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