MADISON, IOWA 1900 Federal Census NOTES FILE ftp://ftp.us-census.org/pub/usgenweb/census/ This Census was transcribed by Kent G. Transier and proofread by Judy Wight Branson for the USGenWeb Census Project http://www.us-census.org/ Copyright (c) 2002 by Kent G. Transier ========================================================================= USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the written consent of the transcriber or the legal representative of the transcriber and contact the USGenWeb Census Project File Manager via the email address with proof of this consent. ========================================================================= Formatted by USGenWeb Census Project File Manager, Jeri Shangle All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. ======================================================================== NOTES FROM TRANSCRIBER: Center Township/Winterset Town: A census tabulation was overwritten on the first name of every head of household. This often made their first name as well as their middle initial very difficult to read. Image quality and the enumerator's spelling were very good throughout. Handwriting was average with only a subtle difference in capital L & S. Letters m, n, u, and w were very difficult to distinguish, especially when adjacent. Users of this transcription are advised to verify their data of interest against images from the National Archives microfilm. =============================================================================================== Crawford Township/Town of Patterson: This Enumerator's handwriting was very poor and his spelling was terrible. For example, the name "Myrtle" was spelled "Mertel," "Maggie" was "Mage," "Warren" was "Weren" and "Minnie" was "Mine." Gross errors in spelling are found throughout this enumeration district, not just in the names, but everywhere such as "Nefue" for "Nephew". Because transcribers are required to transcribe exactly as the Enumerator wrote, it may be very difficult for researchers to find their kin in this particular enumeration district. Because of the excessively poor spelling and penmanship, considerable research was done using county records and previous census data to try to determine names. Despite that effort, it is highly likely that some names were not transcribed accurately. It is highly recommended that users of this transcription verify and make their own interpretations of the data against microfilm images from the National Archives. =============================================================================================== Douglas Township: This enumertor's penmanship and spelling were above average and images were mostly clear with good contrast. There was some difficulty in distinguishing the letters "o" and "a" making names like "Ray" and "Roy" difficult to transcribe. The enumerator appears to have reversed one name, "Clara Penfield," and it can be found under the last name "Clara." Also, this Enumerator chose to put everyone's middle initial in front of their first name which makes the index less useful. Users of this transcription are advised to refer to images from the National Archives microfilm to verify their data. =============================================================================================== Grand River Township: This enumerator had excellent penmenship and the images were clear with good contrast, leaving very little to interpretation. =============================================================================================== Jackson Township: This enumerator's penmanship was poor and spelling was below average and inconsistent, making the transcription somewhat difficult. Users of this transcription should verify their data against images from the National Archives microfilm. =============================================================================================== Jefferson Township: The enumerator's penmanship and spelling were well above average and the images were clear. Users of this transcription are encouraged to verify their data with microfilm images from the National Archives. =============================================================================================== Lee Township: The enumerator's penmanship was good and his spelling average. The images were clear with good contrast. =============================================================================================== Lincoln Township: The images were clear with good contrast. The enumerator was inconsistent with dates and ages. An error by the enumerator caused the last name on page 233A, lines 37-40 to be Hart. The last name should be Ragan. =============================================================================================== Madison Township: The Enumerator's penmanship and spelling were both excellent as were the microfilm images. Some difficulty was experienced in reading middle initials due to overwriting of a tabulation on each head of family. Users of this transcription are advised to verify their data with images from the National Archives microfilm. =============================================================================================== Monroe Township: The images were clear with good contrast. The Enumerator's penmanship was fair and spelling was poor and inconsistent. User's of this transcription should verify their data against microfilm images from the National Archives. =============================================================================================== Ohio Township: Although not identified by the Enumerator, the first four pages of the Ohio Township census appear to be the town of Truro. Enumerator spelling and penmanship were average and images were clear with good contrast. =============================================================================================== Penn Township: The images were clear with good contrast. The Enumerator's penmanship was good but spelling was only fair. User's of this transcription should verify their data against microfilm images from the National Archives. =============================================================================================== Scott Township: The Enumerator's penmanship and spelling were poor and inconsistent. Many letters were left out of names. His penmanship was especially poor when writing age and year of birth numbers. Users of this transcription should verify their data with microfilm images from the National Archives. =============================================================================================== South Township: Although not identified by the Enumerator, page 295A appears to be the town of Hanley. The Enumerator's penmanship occasionally deteriorated and when writing "Jan" and "June," the two were sometimes difficult to distinguish. =============================================================================================== Union Township: The images were clear with good contrast. The enumerator had above average penmanship and spelling although average spelling is not very good. =============================================================================================== Walnut Township: In the first three pages, image contrast was sometimes inadequate making the words difficult to read. Spelling was above average and penmanship was good throughout. Although not identified by the Enumerator, pages 320A & 320B are likely to be the small town of Barney. =============================================================================================== Webster Township: With a few exceptions, penmanship and spelling were good. Consistency of ink density was an issue with some words being adequately dark and others being too light to easily transcribe. ===============================================================================================