Introduction
This section contains census transcriptions for four cities: Chicago, London, Madison and Montreal. Census searches were made for the city of Chicago for the years 1900, 1910 and 1920; for the city of Madison for 1910; for the city of Poplar, England for 1871, 1881 and 1891and for the city of Montreal for 1861, 1871 and 1881. Successful family household entries were found for the Elizabeth Priscilla Jordan, Hebert Arthur Jordan, and James Oscar Jordan families in Chicago; the James H. Jordan family in Madison; the Joseph Steward family in London and the Thomas Black and William Knowles families in Montreal. Listed with these heads of households are at times spouses, children, brothers, sisters, grandchildren and boarders.

Chicago Census
The 1900, 1910, and 1920 Chicago Censuses are on microfilm and names can be located using the Soundex system. The Soundex System uses a phonetic method to organize surnames. The value of the Soundex system is that a name can be found relatively easily even if names were spelled differently than the way they are expected to be spelled. Unusual spellings occurred for several reasons including census takers not always being careful in accurately recording the spelling of our ancestors' names or that our ancestors did not always spell their names in a consistent way. Under the Soundex system, the surnames Jordan, Jorden, and Jordon would all be placed to-gether.

Access to the Chicago Census, as part of the total U.S. Census, is readily available at a number of locations. In particular, searches have been made over the years at the National Archives in Washington D.C., the National Archive Regional Branch in Bayonne, New Jersey, the National Archive Regional Branch in Chicago, the Newberry Library in Chicago, and the Allen County Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Chicago Regional Archives and the Allen County Library have been found easy and convenient to use. Both are relatively spacious, reasonably well lit, have modern microfilm readers and a helpful staff. It is necessary to make a reservation a day in advance at the Chicago Regional Archives.

Some Unsuccessful Searches
The successful searches can be found via links from the Census Choice Page. However, there were a number of unsuccessful searches that should be documented. These include: Sarah, Wilfred and Muriel Knowles for the 1900 Chicago Census, and Charles and Elizabeth Jordan, Sarah and Wilfred Knowles and Charles Steward for the 1910 Chicago Census.

In particular, an extensive search was made in the 1910 Census for Elizabeth Jordan but no records were found. Three different kinds of searches were made: 1) a Soundex index search of Elizabeth Jordan for Illinois, 2) a general search in Madison near Elizabeth's 1907 address, and 3) a house-by-house search of enumeration district 542 in Chicago including the 2049 W. 12th Street dwelling.

The 1890 Census was destroyed by fire. Except for possibly Charles Steward, all other Jordans and Stewards arrived after the 1880 Census and thus the first available census to search is the 1900 Census.

Madison Census
The 1910 Census for Madison is not indexed. To find a census record, a street address to an enumeration district microfiche cross-index can be consulted. Afterward, one searches the enumeration district for all households for the desired address. Since our ancestors generally rented and thus moved a lot, it is usually necessary to search the entire enumeration district. Proceeding in this manner, the James Jordan census record was found.

Poplar, England Census
The 1871,1881 and 1891 Poplar Censuses are available from the LDS Family History Centers and from the Public Record Offices in the United Kingdom.

At the time of the initial searches, the 1871, 1881, and 1891 Censuses in England were not indexed thus a a house-by-house search needed to be done to find the desired occupants. To find the desired 1871 and 1881 records, a record searcher was retained to perform a house-by-house microfilm search of an area of Polar, England focused around Wade Street. All recordings of the names: Jordan, Scholdburg, Steward, and Holloway in the searched area were recorded. For the 1891 Census, Marianne Garcher viewed a microfiche copy for all of Poplar at the Dayton LDS Family History library. Because of the number of people in Poplar at the time, no general search was done. Instead just one address, 20 Wade Street, was searched. Searches of nearby streets for Jordans, Holloways, and Scholdbergs also took place. Only this Steward record was found.

With the availability of on-line indexes to the 1871 Census by Ancestry and the 1851 Poplar Census index by the East of London Family History Society, additional finds were made for the Steward and Scholdberg families.

For the English Censuses, it was the practice to record all members of a household present on census night. For the 1871 census, this was the night of April 3. This means that if a member of a household were away on census night, they would not be recorded at their home address. In contrast, U.S. census data was collected over a period of several weeks and attempts to identify permanent members of a household. The English practice may explain why Oscar's parents were missing from the 1881 census and the 1891 census.

Montreal Census
The 1861, 1871 and 1881 Montreal Censuses are not indexed. Original microfilms are available by interlibrary loan from the Public Archives of Canada, Ottawa. By writing to the Public Archives and providing a street address, the archives will indicate the appropriate microfilm reels for ordering. The 1871 Montreal Census record is for the family of Thomas Black, father of Isabella Black, mother of Margaret Jane Knowles. The 1861 record is for Robert Black, presumed brother of Thomas Black. The 1881 Montreal Census Record is for William Knowles; no record for Margaret Black was found for 1881 even though an extensive search was done for all of St. Anne's Ward, all of West Ward, all of Center Ward, all of East Ward, and all of St. Antoine's Ward for Knowles, Black, Leddy, and Wallace surnames.