Did Veronica Weiss Koenig end up in the 1880 census twice?

+6 votes
252 views

In reviewing my records I see I have two pages in the 1880 census for Veronica Weiss and her husband Jacob Koenig and son William in St. Louis. The addresses are different. One enumeration was done in June, the other in November. The ages match (though William likely had a birthday) and daughter Louisa appears in the second (with the expected age).

The two pages:

June

November

Should  I go with the explanation that one district of the census was quite delayed that year and the family moved in the interim?

WikiTree profile: Veronica Koenig
in Genealogy Help by Paul Kinney G2G6 Mach 1 (18.6k points)
retagged by Ellen Smith

2 Answers

+5 votes
 
Best answer

At https://www.germanroots.com/stlouis.html I read:

Note: there were two census enumerations done for the city of St. Louis in 1880. The first was taken in June, the second in November. Both are included in the 1880 census databases at Ancestry and FamilySearch.

by Ellen Smith G2G Astronaut (1.6m points)
selected by Paul Kinney

This is explained at https://kslib.info/DocumentCenter/View/4643/historical-censuses-1?bidId= :

Census accuracy has always been a matter of contention. Over the years, several major cities have sued Uncle Sam because the cities thought they were unfairly deprived of numbers, therefore, a loss of federal block grants based on population. Usually, the courts have held that under-counting in a census is an inherent part of taking a census, and no compensation or recounts were due. Exceptions to this were in 1870, when the northern cities of Indianapolis, Philadelphia,and New York City were each granted a second enumeration. A few southern cities had also asked for a recount in 1870, without success. This may have been in keeping with the times; because after the Civil War, northern carpetbaggers were used as census takers in the South. They were known to under-count their enumeration districts on purpose in an attempt to keep the political influence of the South less important in Congress. In 1880, the city of St. Louis was granted a second enumeration.

Also see https://assets.ipums.org/_files/mpc/wp2017-01.pdf - page 6: Household Linking the Two Enumerations of St. Louis in 1880

+5 votes
Paul, I have run into this before, particularly in early census records where enumeration dates could be months apart with the same family thus appearing in two different states in the same census. If everything indicates they are records of the same family, what you suggest is logical conclusion.
by T Stanton G2G6 Pilot (517k points)

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