1940 US Census

I'm so excited! In 11 days, the 1940 US Census will be released and available for viewing! I am so looking forward to learning more about my family tree. There are so many people that I cannot find or could not find even in 1930 and I hope that 1940 will shed some light.

Having found Lola, my grandmother, I know now where she was in 1940. She will even most likely show up on the census as Marie. I wonder where her sister, Bessie was in 1940. In 1930, Bessie was a patient at the Alton State Hospital in Alton, IL. Was Bessie still there in 1940? And where was Bessie's husband Ben? I still cannot find any death record for him, and there is no way he is still living.

My grandmother also had many cousins that I have hit brick walls with. These are the young female cousins that most likely married and died with different last names than, say, Beck. If I can find them in 1940, maybe I can find children that might still be living and might have information and pictures!

My grandmother had an aunt, Lena Cloos that died as Magdalene Josephine Moyer in 1951. Lena married a man named Alfred Martin in Grundy, IL in 1893 and they had two daughters. Alfred died in 1935. I cannot find Lena in 1930, but did find that Lena died at the same state hospital as Lola. I'm still trying to find living descendants of Lena, but that has not proven to be so easy.

I wonder where my grandfather Earl (Red) was in 1940. I'm not sure if he was still in the Los Angeles area then or if he was in Northern California. I believe he was in Northern California as a the widow of my dad's good friend told me that when my dad married his first wife Fern in August of 1940, they went to the World's Fair in San Francisco and stayed with Red.

I also wonder who my dad was living with. I believe the census was taken in April of 1940, so he and Fern will not be listed in the same household. I can't wait for the release and already imagine hours of obsessive searching on that day! Why the heck is it being released on a Monday of all days? They really should release it on a Saturday.