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NARA US Census records as a download

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I have had no luck locating my father (James Benjamin (baptized Vaclav) born Chicago, 1895) in the online 1940 US Census, for the Cook County Illinois area. Anyone tried getting a specific area as a download to search off-line and not depending on an ISP connection? What was the process and did you succeed?

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Hi,

The names people used were relative to the time in which they lived.   Tell me more about the name "James Benjamin".    Is "Benjamin" really his surname?   Highly unusual for someone from the Czech lands (Bohemia).  Is "James" the name he used in the decade of his death?  

Do you know for certain where he was living at the time of the 1940 census?  It's only one day in time.   Have you searched for children, spouse or others who may have been living with him at the time?   If you can find one of those people, go to that census page and look through the image.  Occupants will all be listed sequentially.

Is he enumerated in the earlier census (1930, 1920, 1910)?   Was he living in different places?   Not everyone stayed put.

In Chicago you can always determine the enumeration district of a particular address by using the ward maps that are provided on the "A Look at Cook" website. You find the address on the map and you can which ward it was in for that year. -Judi

Chuck:

There are ways to search specific zones in a census, but it's quite a complex process. You need to know the Enumeration District for your search. I did notice a James Benjamin living at 2922 Burling Street, Chicago, IL in 1940 (Ward 44, Block 3). He is listed as a nephew of a Margaret Hadley. Not sure if this is the same person you are looking for or not.