CensusTools

I have been researching my family history for almost 30 years, and in that time I have accumulated a whole lot of census data. Like everyone else, I used paper extraction forms, but I never liked that method because I'm not terribly organized by nature and papers tend to get lost.

I use Family Tree Maker and always keep the latest version. I really like the program but it has a glaring weakness in that it is very difficult to format text information in the 'notes' area. To try to display columnized census data should be a Webster's Dictionary definition for "frustration".

In December I downloaded the Clooz demo, which allows census data input. I didn't find it very user friendly, data input was a chore, and I wasn't happy with how the information was displayed so that idea was quickly discarded.

I eventually want to archive my research on CD so I had to have a way to electronically record my census data. A spreadsheet was the obvious solution. I did a few Internet searches for census spreadsheets, thinking someone must have done it already. I also looked around Cindi's List. I came up empty. So I decided to make one for myself.

At this point I had no inkling that I would be offering it to others. I just wanted a way to organize my own data. When I finished my U.S. Federal spreadsheet I was very happy with what I had created. It occured to me that other researchers might find it useful also. I have been helped countless times by kind souls on my various lists so I posted some offers to e-mail a copy to anyone interested. Little did I suspect the response I would get!

After e-mailing over 800 copies in a matter of about 10 days, it was obvious that I would need a website to handle the demand. One night I actually exceeded my Hotmail outgoing message limit. I didn't even know there was a limit! I set up a Rootsweb webpage briefly, but what I really needed was a commercial web hosting service so I could adequately design a web site with the features I would want. So I bought the censustools.com domain name and hired a commercial web host. CensusTools was born.

By that time, I was spending my own money and devoting enough time to creating spreadsheets, maintaining the web site, and responding to an overflowing in-box to make it reasonable to request donations from happy users of my creations. If these spreadsheets were for any other purpose than genealogy I would charge for them without a moment's hesitation. But since genealogy is a beloved hobby and the fellow researchers I have met in person and online are so generous with their time and expertise, my present and future spreadsheets will always remain free to anyone who wants a copy (or 15!).