Who's Waiting For You In The 1940 Census? My Parents



The Parents - Gene & Virginia Allen  - Newlyweds in 1950

 I thought I'd start first with the low-hanging fruit (or nuts depending how you look at it)- my parents.  At the time of the 1930 census, my maternal grandmother was pregnant with my mother who was born in November of that year.  They owned their home which gives me hope they were in the same place in 1940.  We'll see.  Their enumeration district in Prague, Oklahoma was 41-33.

As for my dad's family, they lived in Neosho, Missouri.  In the 1930 census, my then 2 yr old father was living with his mother and stepfather. For some inexplicable reason, he was listed as Gene Wilson instead of Gene Allen.  This mistake by the enumerator caused me no end of  grief trying to find him until it occurred to me to look for my grandmother instead.  Bingo.  By 1940 Dad was living with his maternal grandparents who later adopted him.  Since Dad is thankfully still with us at age almost 84, I took a chance and asked him if he remembered the address.  He did. 316 Wheeler St.  Easy peasy.  Except Dad's grandparents were living on Jefferson St. in 1930.  The ED for that address was 73-13.  Hopefully that will get me in the ball park.

Who's waiting for you?