Carnival of Genealogy - Finds on the 1940 US census

Not wanting to be left out of all the excitement of the release of the 1940 United States census, I asked myself, who of my relatives that went to the United States would be living in 1940. I went to my family history database and did some checking. There should be at least one Hemingway family, a Stiver family and of course, the two siblings of my grandmother Iles, Josiah and Gilbert Dudley.

Thanks to Ancestry.com making circa 1930 documents available for free up until the 10th of April, I decided to take advantage of this opportunity to see what I could find about the Dudley brothers. I had never searched for them in any of the American census records. I knew that one had gone to Boston, Massachusetts and one had gone to Providence, Rhode Island. I mentioned them in a recent article about their mother.

Josiah Gilbert Dudley
A search of the 1930 census found him listed as J Gilbert Dudley, aged 55 with wife Mary E. aged 55 and Esther Barlow, his sister-in-law, living in Providence, Rhode Island at 106 Porter Street. They were renting a place for $35 a month. He is listed as a designer of stained glass. Knowing their enumeration district and the Steve Morse conversion of the ed, I was able to locate the family in the 1940 census living in the same dwelling.

Sister-in-law, Esther provided the information for the enumerator. They were now paying $30 a month as rent. Gilbert is 64; Mary is 65 and Esther is 59. They all were born in England. The two sisters came to the United States in 1891 and Gilbert came in 1892. Gilbert's occupation is listed as artist, owner in a Stained Glass works. Esther is a secretary to a physician. Mary has no occupation listed.

I was also able to locate an index entry on Familysearch for Josiah G Dudley, 35, in 1910 in ward 6 of Providence Rhode Island with his wife, Mary E., 35, and daughter Marion G. aged 11 years. His year of immigration is given as 1893. Familysearch also has the 1915 Rhode Island State Census entry for them. Ancestry.com has the marriage index for Rhode Island. It gives the marriage of Mary E. Barlow and Josiah G. Dudley as 21 December 1897.

While on the Ancestry.com website, I decided to check for his naturalization information. I located it and learned that Josiah Gilbert Dudley arrived at the port of Boston, Massachusetts on 14 June 1892 and was naturalized 25 June 1904 and was living at 71 Rugby Street. His place of birth is given as Derby, England.

Charles Henry Dudley
In 1930, Charles H. Dudley, aged 53 is living on Cottage Street in Boston Massachusetts with his wife Jennie M., aged 42 and born in Connecticut, and son Gilbert C. aged 19 years. Charles owned his home and it was valued at $10,000. Charles was a barber. His year of immigration was given as 1908. I had always thought that he had left England earlier than my grandmother (his sister). Ten years later, their home's value has decreased to $9,000. Jennie provided the information.

Further research provided me with more information. I located him in the 1910 and 1920 census records. His naturalization record of 9 March 1925, gives his birth information as 22 February 1877 in Matlock, England. He is a barber and his wife's name is Jennie. Charles was living at 700 Columbia Road, Boston. Ancestry.com also has his passenger record. He arrived in Boston on board the Saxonia on 23 July 1908.


My curiosity about the 1940 census led to quite a bit of information on both of my great uncles and clues for further research.


To see photos of the two brothers, see the Wordless Wednesday posting.

© 2012 Janet Iles