I Found Mama in the 1940 Census (and Grandma and Grandpa!)

I had done my homework so I knew my mother’s address in 1940: 3526 Farago, El Monte, Los Angeles County, California. I had figured out that was in Enumeration District 19-156, so once the 1940 census images became available on Ancestry.com, I knew just where to go! It didn’t take long to find her on Sheet 16A, along with her first husband, Archie Sherrell, and two of my older siblings, Deanna and Arnold (Arny):

Source: 1940 U.S. Census, Los Angeles County, California, population schedule,
El Monte Judicial Township, Enumeration District 19-156, Sheet 16A,
household number 361, Archie Sherrell; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com :
accessed 3 April 2012); citing NARA microfilm number T627.

I knew that my Aunt Jean lived next door to Mama at that time and she and her family were enumerated beginning on the previous page.

Since this was the first census on which my brother appeared, I emailed him a copy of the page. He remembers the house and living next door to Aunt Jean and her children.

Mama had told me that she and Archie were married in 1935 in Kansas City, Missouri, so I expected that, in all likelihood, they were living there, and I was right. However, their marriage license was issued in Johnson County, Missouri, and that had puzzled me. I think I found the answer to that question. Archie’s mother, Lola Carson, was living with them in 1940, and in 1935, she was living in Johnson County, Missouri!

Things must have been pretty tight financially. According to the census, Archie was a laborer in construction but had been unemployed for 52 weeks. Having two young children, Mama didn’t work. Lola had been a cook on a ranch, but had been unemployed for 36 weeks. Their total combined income in 1939 was less than $700!

I also had my Yawman grandparents’ address: 3304 Freer in El Monte. I wasn’t sure which Enumeration District that would be in, but had narrowed down to the same as my mother and one other. So after I found Mama, I just kept going through the pages. Two pages later, I found my grandparents on Sheet 17A:

Source: 1940 U.S. Census, Los Angeles County, California, population schedule,
El Monte Judicial Township, Enumeration District 19-156, Sheet 17A,
household number 387, William Yawman; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com :
accessed 3 April 2012); citing NARA microfilm number T627.

Grandpa Yawman was enumerated on line 14 so the supplementary questions were answered. But there was nothing there that I didn’t already know!

© 2012 Denise Spurlock