Speaking of Ancestry I just spent a few days going through Ancestry's offering of the 1900 Census for Michael J. Curtin. I simply can not find them in a Census which really might be helpful to me and the only Census I can not find them in.
Michael and Margaret did not come to the US until after the 1880 Census. They were married in Boston in 1889 and then at some point moved to Worcester by the next year when their son John Francis was born. My feeling was that they moved here because her family, the Maroneys, particularly the eldest sister, Mary, married to James Hoy in 1876, was living here. Recently I discovered who I am fairly certain was an uncle, Patrick, living here in Worcester-he died here in 1904. His informant was Bridget Downs who I believe was the marriage witness for Margaret in Boston and who turns out with further investigation was the daughter of Susan Maroney.
Their daughter Ethel (and for some reason Michael and Margaret decided not to follow the Irish naming pattern and name her Lucy) was also born in Worcester but for some reason they moved to Providence Rhode Island at the time where their third daughter Lucy was born. However they appear to have been back, according to the directories by the early 1900s. Now we know that virtually none of the 1890 Census exists-not a major issue since I am positive they were here in Worcester at the time but where was the family in 1900?
My question is -since Ancestry does not have an entry for them anywhere in the US-is there another site I can try more New England specific -since I have to try both Providence and Worcester-1900 Census. For some reason the Worcester directories on Ancestry get a bit piecy around 1900 and honestly there are a number of Michael Curtins in Worcester which may or may not be mine. I need the Census to determine where they were a bit more firmly since there will be five people to counterconfirm that it is the family since all the children were born by 1900-the youngest, Lucy, being 6. The brief move to Providence was obviously work related although I still don't know specifically why. I sort of suspect they had returned to Worcester by then.
The 1900 Census would be informative to have because it would give me birth months-a nice little bonus of that particular Census.
