Part 2: New Information From Iowa

With the availablity of the Iowa State Census images, I found additional information regarding Ellen Carlson and her family. The most significant find comes from the fabulous 1925 census, and it is supplemented by the Federal census schedules for 1900, 1910, and 1920.

1925 Iowa State Census

After running several searches of the Iowa State Census collection, I came up with this narrowed-down list of possibilities:

The very first entry, Ellen C. Carlson, looks the most promising; however, upon giving it a second look, there is a problem with it. Indeed her father's first name is August (recall that the 1880 census listed a couple by the name of August and Christina Vennerberg), but his last name is not Vennerberg; it is Engstrom. Undaunted, I click through to view the census image thinking maybe that there was an indexing error and the actual image will reveal the truth. Well, the image certainly was revealing, but it didn't contain the truth I was expecting to find.

The surprise I found was that Ellen Carlson's stepfather was living with them. His name is none other than John A.Vannerburg! That puts a whole new spin on the search.

The 1925 Iowa State Census asks so many questions, the form is 3 pages long.

1925 Iowa State Census images for John and Ellen Carlson
Page 1	Page 2	Page 3

Having seen the surname spelled Vannerburg, I ran this search and found an interesting entry for John and Ellen Carlson's younger son George R. Carlson right at the top of the list. Notice that he lists his parents as Ellen Vannerburg and John M. Carkon [Carlson].

1925 Iowa State Census images for George R. and Mary Carlson
Page 1	Page 2	Page 3

Federal Censuses

I was able to find John and Ellen Carlson in the Federal census for several years.

United States Census images for John and Ellen Carlson
1900 Census	1910 Census	1920 Census