1940 Census: Grandfather Found

I've been so busy looking for family in the census I forgot to post about what I was finding. It's addictive! One of my recent finds was my grandfather Charles Leo Radcliff. It was a bittersweet find because just passed away a year ago and I'm still dealing with that.

Anyway, in the census he appears as Leo Radcliff. I found this interesting because while I knew it was his middle name, as far as I knew, he had always went by Charles, Charlie or his nickname Tucker. The same could be said for his sister, who appears as Mabel, which is her middle name.

Household of Charles Radcliff, 1940 US Census,Glenville, Gilmer County, West Virginia, ED 11-10, Sheet 9A

My grandfather was just 2 years old at his first enumeration; his sister was 2 months old. They were living with their parents (and my great grandparents) Charles and Emma Radcliff. My great grandmother was the one to answer the enumerator's questions.

The family was living on a rented farm on Chestnut Bottom Run and had been living there 5 years previously (the adults anyway). My great grandfather had a 7th grade education and worked as a farmer on his own account, working 40 hours the previous week. He had worked the entire year before.

My great grandmother had made it a little further in school, going through 8th grade. She was not employed and was a homemaker. With two young kids, not to mention the era, it's not surprising.

1940 Census: On The Trail of Some Neals

Riley and Aulda (Messenger) Neal were my paternal 2nd great grandparents. I knew they had been living in Glenville, West Virginia in the 1930 census and just outside Glenville in Linn, WV when Riley registered for the WWII draft. I decided to start my search there. As it turns out, there are six enumeration districts for that area. Wouldn't you know they were in the last one I checked.

Household of Riley Neal, Source 1940 US Census, Glenville, Gilmer County, West Virginia, ED 11-10, Page 10A

When the enumerator came around on 29 April 1940, Riley was the one to respond to the enumerator's questions. The family was living on a rented farm on Butchers Fork on the outskirts of Glenville. Riley is listed as having a 6th grade education and working as a laborer for the WPA. I'm not sure if it's a mistake or a quirk of the census but he is noted as having been unemployed for 26 weeks, but had worked 52 weeks the previous year. His salary is listed as $272. The family was living in the same house they were in in 1935.

Next in the household was his wife Aulda, a homemaker, who had achieved a 7th grade education. Children Charles, Herley, Ella, Leo, Lester and Roy were also in the household. Charles was the only one employed. He had worked 40 hours the previous week as a offbearer in a sawmill. He had 13 weeks of employment in 1939 and made $185.

In the household enumerated before my 2nd great grandparents, you find Riley's brother Oliver. Like his brother, he was living on a rented farm, the same place he'd been 5 years previously. He had worked 40 hours the previous week as a farmer. He had been employed all of the previous year and made $462.

His wife Dortha (Frashure) was the one who answered the enumerator's questions. As luck would have it, her name fell on line 14, making her a supplemental. In the supplementary questions, you can see that both of her parents were born in West Virginia. This was her first marriage, which she had entered at age 19, and she had gave birth to three children. These would be the three daughters-Goldie, Mable and Ethel-who are listed with the couple in the census.

1940 Census: The Jackpot Find

When I was figuring out EDs to check for family members, I figured I'd have some family in the same area. Yesterday, though, I hit the jackpot. The funny thing is that after I shared my find with family members on our Facebook group, they helped me realize that my jackpot find was even bigger than I initially thought.

1940 US Census, Nashville, Berrien County, GA; ED 10-8, page 9B

Starting at line 51 is my great grandfather Clifford Eugene Sweat. Also in the household is my great grandmother Alice Isabel (Hayes) Sweat, my 2nd great grandmother Addie Mae (Deen) Sweat and cousins Louise Lee, GW Lee, Bessie Lee and Nadine Lee. The mother of the Lee children is Nellie Mae (Sweat) Lee, a sister of my great grandfather. A hired hand, Edgar Griffin, also lives in the household. It's possible this is also a relative because my great grandmother's aunt and my great grandfather's brother both married Griffins.

In the household that directly follows starting on line 59, is a brother of my great grandfather, Osborn Touchton Sweat. As in the household is his wife Evelyn (Griffin) Sweat and their daughter Dorothy.

The next household, which begins on line 62, is also family. J Isom Davis married my great grandfather's sister Gladys (Sweat) Davis. Their son J Isom Davis Jr is also in the household.

Two households down on line 69 is the Steve Spells family. Steve also married a sister of my great grandfather, Stella Mae (Sweat) Spells. Their children Alma, Doris, JW, Gene and Dwayne share the household.

On line 76 begins another household that may have family connections. I'll have to do a little digging to be sure but I suspect that Rena Mae Wilson is in fact Rena Mae Sweat, the oldest daughter of the couple in the previous household.

Last, but not least, on line 78 we find Tom Hayes. This is my 2nd great grandfather, father of Alice Isabel (Hayes) Sweat, who appeared with her husband in the first household I pointed out.

1940 Census: The Very First Find

Since NARA hasn't worked for me all morning, I switched to Ancestry in the hopes that they would have released a state that one of my ancestors were in. As luck would have it, they had Indiana, which is where my Bollings and Vanzandts lived in 1940.

I struck out on the Bollings. Despite being fairly certain about where they were living, I didn't see them. Maybe I overlooked them in my excitement. Rather than get frustrated, I marked them down for a second look and moved on to the next family on my list, the Vanzandts.

I was hoping to find my great grandfather Clyde Thomas Vanzandt, who was most likely living with his parents William Walter Vanzandt and Martha Elizabeth (Davis) Vanzandt. Instead, I stumbled across Henry Vanzandt, his brother.

Household of Henry Vanzandt; Source: 1940 US Census, Evansville, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, ED 93-3, Page 20B, Line 62; Images, Ancestry (ancestry.com)

Henry was living in Knight Township of Evansville, Indiana with his wife Margaret and two boys, Henry and Donald. The family lived at 1311 Henning Avenue. A quick peek at Google maps shows it to be a small house.



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Henry worked as a mechanic in the auto sales and service industry. He had worked 48 hours the week of March 24th through the 30th and had worked 52 weeks in the previous year. For his efforts, he received $600 in pay. Margaret was a homemaker.

When I checked my genealogy software, I was surprised to see that I didn't have a son named Henry for the couple, but I did have one named Donald. After taking a closer look in my software, I realized that the father Henry was actually Walter Henry M Vanzandt, which meant that the son I had listed as Walter M Vanzandt was my missing Henry.

Since I'm pretty sure that my great grandfather and his parents were in the same township, I should come across them soon.