Using the 1930 Census to Push Through Immigration Roadblocks

While building a family tree for a friend, her grandmother, Beatrice Elizabeth Robinson was a dead-end for me. She was born in England in the early 1900s. She was living with her in-laws in Marshalltown, Iowa in the 1930s with her husband (Otto Pull) & children. It was easy to establish facts about her life from 1930 and later, but information about her life in England and subsequent immigration was challenging.

  • Born in England
  • Married At Age 19
  • Father Born in England
  • Mother Born in England
  • Immigration Year 1923
  • Naturalization- Alien
Beatrice E. Robinson (Maiden Name)

I was able to establish her maiden name was Robinson when I found her social security information. I then began looking for a woman named Beatrice Elizabeth Robinson, born around 1907 (from the census) who arrived in the United States in 1923 from England and found this…

This Beatrice Robinson had two brothers, John, and George, and a sister-in-law, Martha Robinson. The next of kin information was an aunt named Mrs. Riding in Liverpool, England. The sister-in-law’s father was Samuel Lee in Gloucester, England. On the far right side, the Robinson children were heading to Davenport, Iowa. The sister-in-law was going to Detroit, Michigan. I proceeded to add these individuals to my tree and began researching each of them. I needed more information to determine if this was the correct family.

If this was Beatrice Robinson and her brothers, why was their aunt listed as their contact in Liverpool? Had their parents died? Did they move to the United States with an older brother and his wife? Why were the children going to Davenport, Iowa, while the sister-in-law was going to Michigan?

I began researching George N. Robinson, born around 1913 in Liverpool, living in Davenport, Iowa around 1930. I found this…

This was them! Their parents must have left the children with an aunt while they settled in the United States. There is a transcription error on this census and the mother should read Elizabeth Robinson, not Engla Penninger.

Never give up. When you hit a brick wall, go back to all of the documents you have and look for clues you may have overlooked. If you have an ancestor who immigrated from another country, check the immigration records. If you find someone who might fit, research them until you prove or disprove them.

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