Family tree

I finally did my census! It took almost no time at all to fill it out for my husband and me.

Watching the new show Who Do You Think You Are? where they follow a celebrity trying to find out about their family history, got me interested again in finding out more about mine.

I'd visited Clayton Genealogical Library (a great resource right here in Houston!) quite a while ago and started to look at my family, but then...well, life happened. I realized I'd gone there in January 2007, so I obviously put it on hold when I got engaged, planned a wedding, and the excuses go on. But now, I decided to get back to it!

I found members of my family in several census forms. The latest to be released to the public is from 1930! I learned they don't release it for 72 years to protect everyone who is in it, I believe the 72 years is based on life expectancy. I am so excited to be able to find out information about my family and see where I came from.

My ultimate goals are to find out where (as in what country or countries) my family came from and when. I've always thought/been told I'm French and German but I'd like to know 1) if that is true, and 2) how much of each I am, as well as the questions that arise from that - where in that country did they come from, and the list goes on? Not sure how much I can find, but I'll enjoy the search.

I've already found some interesting information - my great-grandfather worked at a papermill in 1920, and my grandfather was an errand boy at 16 years old! Imagine, working full-time at that age, I was still in high school...

I did realize in looking at these old census forms that the census collects LESS information now than it did in the early 1900s. For example - they used to collect occupation and birthplace for your parents, but don't anymore. That made me sad because that means years from now when the 2010 census (and whichever other ones they collected less information on - I honestly don't remember what the 2000 census looked like) is released to the public and people are trying to find out about their family it won't have as much information for them to find....