Census Sunday – Alta (McCormack) Ford and her family in the 1940 Census

For today’s Census Sunday post, I would like to post about my grandmother, Alta Lyleth (McCormack) Ford, her husband (my grandfather) Aubrey, my aunt Nancy, my uncle Richard (or Dick as most everyone I knew called him) and my dad, William. On a personal note and it isn’t indicated on this census, but my father was named after his grandfather William E. McCormack.

1940 Census – Alta McCormack Ford and family [1]

They were enumerated on the 4th of April 1940 (Thursday). Here is the portion of the census that we are really concerned about;

1940 Census snippet [1]

Line #,  street name, house number, # in order of visitation, Owned (O) or Rented (R), abode value, household or farm, NAME, Relation, Sex, Color of race, Age, marital status, attended school, highest grade, Place of birth, citizenship of foreign-born, residence in 1935, on a farm, work – private or public, public works program, seeking work, housework or other, hours worked per week, occupation, industry, class of worker, # of weeks worked in 1939, wages earned, receive $50 other sources.

1. 55, Goethe, Apt. #3, 37, R, 44, No, Aubrey Ford, Head, M, W, 48, M, No, H-4, Missouri, , Same place, , , No, No, No, Yes, -, -, , 39, Superintendent In Brewery Plant, Brewery & Bouling Factory, PW, 13, 1000, No
2. 56, , , , , , , Alta Ford, Wife, F, W, 38, M, No, C-2, Michigan, Same place, No, No, No, No, No, H, , , , , , 0, 0, No
3. 57, , , , , , , Nancy Ford, Daughter, F, W, 6, S, Yes, 1, Michigan, Same place, No, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
4. 58, , , , , , , Richard Ford, Son, M, W, 1, S, No, 0, Michigan, -, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
5. 59, , , , , , , William Ford, Son, M, W, 1, S, No, 0, Michigan, -, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

One of the things that we learn in this census is that my grandfather was out of work. We note that he was born in Missouri. I can only guess on why he left Missouri to go up north to Detroit. It could be for the same reason that a lot of people from the South went north to Detroit.  Jobs. For right now, we can only speculate as to the reason. Also, if you notice an interesting fact about my father, William and my uncle Dick (Richard) is that they are the same age. Yes, they are twins.  The entry for where my grandfather work I got from the listing at Ancestry.com. I could not decipher the enumerator’s handwriting for that entry.  We also note that my grandmother had 2 years of college as indicated by the note, C-2.  After I grew up some, I learned that she was a teacher in various school systems in southeast Michigan.  Btw, the street that my grandparents and their family lived on, Goethe, is still there in Detroit but parts of it must look completely different from it did in 1940

Thanks for stopping by!

Footnote;

1. 1940 United States Federal Census, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, population schedule, Ward 19, ED 84-1226, Pg. Sheet 2-B, 37, Aubrey Ford, digital image, Ancestry.com, http://search.ancestry.com/, accessed 20 Sep 2012, citing Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. T627, 4,643 rolls.