Pa Rock at Home in 1950

 

by Pa Rock

Time Lord

The United States Federal Census for 1950 was released to the public this past April, but before it could be of use to most of us it had to be transcribed and indexed by thousands of volunteers, and its actual appearance into the public record has been a gradual affair.  As someone who was born in 1948, the 1950 census marks my debut into the nation's official count that happens every ten years - on those years which end in zero.

This morning I finally was able to view my first census entry - and even though I have spent much of my life collecting family history, I still managed to learn a couple of things about my family that I never knew before.

According to the document that I saw today, the census taker was Grace Adaline Altizer, and she arrived at our home to enumerate the family on April 13th, 1950.  There were three of us in residence there at the time:  my father, Garland E. Macy, a white male, aged 25, the "head" of the household, my mother, Florine Macy, a white female, aged 28, and me, Rocky Macy, a white male, aged two.   All of that fits with what I already knew about my family.  The census reported that each of us had been born in Missouri - which is also correct.

The census entry stated that we lived on Park Street in Neosho, Newton County, Missouri.  The house number on the census entry was indistinct, but I knew that the actual address was 510 Park Street from numerous comments that my parents made about that little house as I was growing up  (we had moved from there when I was three-years-old)  and I even visited and walked through the house once as an adult. (The property is unique in that a railroad track borders the edge of the yard and separates it from the Federal Fish Hatchery, a Neosho landmark.)

One of my most persistent memories of my mother is that she always worked, but according to that census, she was not working in April of 1950, nor was she looking for work.  But she was a stay-at-home mother of a two-year-old and pregnant with my little sister who would be born that October, so I suspect Mom was a fairly busy woman at that time in her life!

My father was listed as a "can filler" at a condensed milk factory - which would have been the old Pet Milk Factory in Neosho.  I remember that he mostly worked nights, so he probably actually was at home when the census taker arrived.  I had never heard his specific job before, that of "can filler," so that was new information.

And that basically was the gist of my first entry into the United States census.  There were no big surprises, but at least I know that I made it into the nation's official count in 1950, and I will be there waiting when my grandchildren and their grandchildren come snooping around looking for me!