Tuesday's Tip: They May Have Moved

Many families were enumerated in the same location in two or more consecutive U.S. federal censuses. However, they may not have lived in that location for the entire time between census enumerations. People sometimes moved away, and then moved back. Even if you check city directories, if you skip some years, you could miss a move.

At the time of the 1910 U.S. census enumeration, my 2nd-great-grandfather's brother Clarence Bateman Gatlin and his family lived at 4801 Alabama Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee.

1910 United States census, Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee, Ward 25, population schedule, enumeration district 82, sheet no. 7A. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.

By November 1910, the family had moved to New Decatur, Morgan County, Alabama. Clarence's son Clarence J. Gatlin died there on 14 November 1910.

Clarence J. Gatlin death record. Center for Health Statistics, Alabama Department of Public Health, Montgomery, Alabama. 

The 1911 Nashville City Directory mentions Clarence's move.

Nashville City Directory 1911. New York: Marshall-Bruce-Polk, 1911. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

By 1912, Clarence and his family had returned to Nashville. They lived at the same address as they had before the move, 4801 Alabama Avenue. Perhaps they rented the house while they were away, or perhaps Clarence's father William Dow Gatlin, who lived with the family in 1910, had remained there. (He died in Nashville on 4 March 1911.)

Nashville City Directory 1912. New York: Marshall-Bruce-Polk, 1912. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. 

My great-grandfather John Boe and his family went back and forth between St. Louis, Missouri and Williston, Williams County, North Dakota. On 28 April 1908, my grandfather John Boe was born in St. Louis. The 1908 St. Louis City Directory lists the Boe family.

Gould's St. Louis City Directory 1908, page 220. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

The next child, Florence Kathleen Boe, was born on 22 November 1909 in Williston. The Boe family was in St. Louis at the time of the 1910 U.S. census enumeration.

1910 United States census, St. Louis, Missouri, Ward 22, population schedule, enumeration district 340, sheet no. 2A.

John Boe was also listed in the 1910 St. Louis city directory.

Gould's St. Louis Directory for 1910, page 304. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. 

John was listed in the Williston City Directory in 1911.

Williston City Directory, 1911-1912. Williston, ND: North Dakota Directory Co., page 31. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

In 1913, he was listed in the St. Louis directory.

Gould's St. Louis Directory for 1910, page 356. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
 
On 9 February 1914, John's daughter Theodora Catherine was born in Williston. The Boe family had returned to St. Louis by 29 July 1916, when John's daughter Geraldine Edith was born. This was the last of the moves back and forth.