An anomaly found in the 1930 US Census.

I decided to start looking at some of my DNA matches a little more completely. I was hoping I could build out the tree and see if I could figure out our relationship. All I know is that this family is in my Hilts/Hiltz branch, my maternal grandmother's maiden name. This branch of the family has been in the America's since 1710 and thus I have many, many matches to the Hilts/Hiltz branch. The biggest problem is trying to figure out which Hilts/Hiltz ancestor is our common ancestor.

Looking at this tree, the Williams name looks familiar. I have a Hilts/Hiltz descendant who married a Williams, however Eva Louise Williams doesn't look familiar, while Clara Frances Kyle does.  In fact, I found Clara married to Shepard Williams. I only have one child for Clara and Shepard and this is through another DNA match. Thus I have never actually researched this branch.

I decided to do a search on Shepard and Clara and I find the 1930 US Census record for them with their children, Laurence and Alice. Since I already had Laurence through that other DNA match, I was happy to find this census record.

I moved forward to the 1940 US Census and Shepard has passed away and Laurence is married and living with his family, on his own, however Alice is living with Clara along with Eva L.

Wait a Minute? If Eva is 19, should she not be living with her parents in the prior census? I looked at the census image, thinking perhaps the child is missed transcribed into the next family. I have seen this happen, however she is not the next person listed.

However, she is in the next house, the last person listed, is Eva L Williams, 8 years old and listed as the step-daughter. Strange indeed. Her father's birth location and her mother's birth location doesn't match either Ora Homes or his wife Flay Holmes. It even looks like someone added "step" after the fact. This are getting stranger and stranger.

When I did a Google Map search on the address, it doesn't exist anymore. To verify this fact, I have also check the tax records for the area, and that address does not come up. Neither, 812 or 814. 

If you look at Eva L Williams compare to her sister Alice R Williams, they are both born in Iowa and both their father's are listed as born in Wisconsin while both their mother's are listed as born in
Illinois. Shepard is showing born in Wisconsin and Clara is showing born in Illinois.

Finally, I did find a death certificate for Eva which listed her parents.



How did 1930 census record get created? We will probably never know how this error occurred, however I feel confident that Eva L Williams is actually the daughter of Shepard and Clara.