1930 Census

Surname Tables starting from:

The Lake County 1930 Indexing Project

The Lake County internet genealogy community has completed a very simple every-name, age and page index. We thank the following people for their kind assistance in indexing the EDs:

Questions and Some Answers

When did the 1930 census become available? The Federal Census schedules were released to the public April 1, 2002 after 72 years of privacy. This census included much the same items as the 1920, but did ask if the household owned a radio. Lake County, Ohio had not been indexed in any way until now. The only finding aid provided was the Enumeration District (ED) Descriptions from the NARA site; a modified copy is below.

Where do I find this census? Currently, as of 27 November 2002, it is my understanding that the National Archives and its branches have a complete set of this census. Western Reserve Historical Society has a complete set. Several other libraries have complete sets at this time, including Independence Mo Mid-Continent Library; Concord, New Hampshire NH State Library; Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, IN; The Family History Library in Salt Lake City, also available to order at your local Family History Center, Ancestry.com has begun putting images online. HeritageQuestOnline has the images on their site. Heritage Quest is shipping microfilm rentals and purchases as well as CD ROM digital microfilm images. NARA has a microfilm rental and purchase system. Morley Library in Painesville and Geauga Public Library in Chardon have Lake and Geauga Counties and a few others on microfilm.

How many pages are there? There are a total of 35 enumeration districts in Lake County. The smallest has two pages, the largest has 61 pages. There is a total of 41,674 people (according to the census statistics) on about 865 pages.

Why do we need an index? Those areas of highest population that have multiple enumeration districts are the ones in which it is most difficult to find a family. With changing municipal borders, it is not easy to define the EDs especially for those not familiar with the area. Fairport had a major influx of immigrants before this census, as did the north part of Painesville. There are three large EDs for Fairport. There are four very large EDs for Painesville, plus two for the township. Willoughby Village has two large EDs. (The third is Andrews Institute.)

Why can't I find my ED? They are quite out of order on the films. Generally speaking Perry and Willoughby areas are on film 1827, and the rest along with Willoughby Village is on 1826. Normally, there is a blank space on the microfilm between counties. In this case, on film 1826, you will find that the first 7 EDs are before that break, connected to Knox County.

Why can't I find my family? There are many reasons for this. The society had become more mobile, and people moved quite often. It was the depression time, and people had lost homes, moved in with relatives or friends, etc. In addition, there are many places you will find the same street. The census was taken around the blocks, not up and down the streets as some of the earlier censuses were. If a large street was an ED boundary, it will be in at least two different EDs. A very long street may be in several EDs. House numbers changed in Painesville the first part of the century, likely between 1920 and 1930. The census taker couldn't spell. Elizabeth was often noted as Elyzath or Elizath or Elizebeth. Arthur is Author, and Margaret is usually Margurite.

Why is the age wrong in the Lake County index? Almost all of the children under five years of age were listed with a year and months as a fraction such as 3 5/12. After the census was done, all the fractions were crossed out and a rounded off age was placed in the same box. This makes it very difficult to read. Some are nearly or completely illegible. Therefore, many of the fractions are best guesses.

Any hints for searching the index? Remember that this index is not proofread or verified. It is intended as a "second opinion" type index after the commercial ones are done. For now, since there is no other index, it will be the best we have.

Remember that the census taker was not supposed to ask about spelling, so many names may be as he/she guessed them to be.

It was discovered that, except for names like John, Mary, and Elizabeth, the first names are more unique than surnames. If the surname is mispelled, browse the list, but if not found, try using the search engine on the home page for the first name. Try each member of the family, beginning with the most uncommon first names.

How do I navigate the Heritage Quest CD ROMs? Start pages have been added to the Enumeration District table below. These numbers are the image numbers from the Heritage Quest CD ROMs and correspond to the Microfilm printed numbers for page 1A for the ED. The written numbers began at 1A for each ED, whereas the printed numbers were consecutive throughout a "part." (A part is a census ledger book; there are two parts for each of the CDs covering Lake County.) The start numbers use the A and B designations. A CD page number can be calculated from the number written on the ED page as follows:

• Take the (written) page number given in our index and add it to the start number for the ED from the table.
• Then subtract 1 to get the CD image number you need.

• From the Enumeration District table below, determine the start page for ED 43-17; it is 100A
• Add the written page number to the start page number: 16 + 100 = 116
• Subtract 1 to get the image number: 116 - 1 = 115

How do I navigate on HeritageQuestOnline? HeritageQuestOnline is a little different. Images are arranged by municipality or township rather than by ED. For Fairport Harbor, Kirtland, Waite Hill, and Willoughby villages, the multiple EDs which make up these communities are numbered consecutively, which complicates the arithmetic a little. You select the township or village you need (given in our index here). Then you must enter a number in the box that says Page _____ of [No. of images in the ED or EDs] You need to calculate the page number.

• Take the number given in the index, subtract one, and multiply by two.
• Add the number from the last column from the Enumeration District table below to determine the image number for the "A" page.; for the "B" page, add 1.

• Subtract 1 from the page number: 16 - 1 = 15.
• Double that: 15X2=30.
• From the Enumeration District Table below, we see that ED 43-17 starts at image 33 of the Fairport Harbor set, so add 33: 30+33=63. Image 63 is page 16A.
• Since we want page 16B, add 1 to find that page 16B is image 64.

What do you mean "Image numbers?" When the enumerator took his census on the street, he numbered his pages beginning at 1A, and since the book had two-page spreads, they were designated as 1A and 1B, 2A and 2B and so on. After the work was turned in, the ED was put into books along with other EDs, each starting at 1A. These big ledger books were then numbered with a printed numbering system starting with page 1 and numbering every right-hand (or B) page consecutively to the end of the book, regardless of what ED was which. These numbers may have been "installed" prior to microfilming to be sure the pages did not get lost, or simply to aid researchers looking through the actual books. Recently when the microfilm was electronically digitized, Heritage Quest opted to number their images along the same lines as the printed numbers found in the books.

For Lake County, the microfilm rolls and CDs consist of two ledger books each. Lake County is begun in the end of the Knox County Book [Ohio Census Book 161]. This is called part one of microfilm/CD number 1826, but is numbered consecutively with Knox County; thus, the first Lake County ED, Concord Township, starts on page 219A. Part 2 of CD 1826 is Book 162 which continued the Lake County EDs. The next CD or reel (1827) contained the rest of Lake County in part 1, (Book 163). The rest of the film/CD is Lawrence County, running from the end of Book 163 (part 1) through Book 164 (part 2).

The NARA publication number for the entire 1930 census is T626.

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Last updated 27 Nov 2002	© 2002 Lake County, Ohio GenWeb