In this Post: Tracking a family through census records gave me eight snapshots of one Brooklyn household from 1905 to 1950. What emerged wasn’t just a list of names and ages, but a documentary of survival. This post shows how tracking a family through census records—especially with New York’s state censuses filling the gaps—reveals the extended family networks and economic cooperation that single snapshots can’t capture.
Tracking a Family Through Census Records: What Patterns Reveal
Most census entries look ordinary, just names, ages, occupations. But follow one address long enough, and those routine lists become a family’s survival story.
Researchers with New York ancestors in the 1900s have a tremendous advantage: New York State conducted its own census in the years ending in 5, filling the gaps between federal census years. The state took censuses in 1905, 1915, and 1925 before discontinuing the practice.1
That advantage is remarkable. While most genealogists track families decade by decade (1910, 1920, 1930, 1940, 1950), New York researchers get those five federal records PLUS the 1905, 1915, and 1925 state censuses. For the Dowling-Plunkett household at their Brooklyn address, I have eight census records spanning 45 years from 1905 through 1950.
What happens when you follow one family at the same address through eight census records across 45 years? The individual snapshots transform into something richer: a documentary of adaptation, survival, and the first-generation American family networks that made the American Dream possible.
From 1905 through 1950, census takers visited the same Brooklyn house where my Dowling and Plunkett ancestors lived. Each decade’s record tells part of a larger story about how working-class families built stability through extended family cooperation. The house functioned as a duplex, and tracking both units across 45 years reveals not just who lived there, but how the property itself shaped family connections across generations. (See: “If These Walls Could Talk: Our Family’s Brooklyn Haven Since 1905“)
1905: The Foundation
When Thomas and Mary (Plunkett) Dowling first appear at their new Brooklyn address in the 1905 New York State Census, they represent a young family establishing themselves. Thomas works as a house painter. Mary manages the household. Their children attend school.
But they are not alone. Mary’s sister Julia Plunkett lives with them, working as a copyist. The arrangement makes economic sense. Julia’s clerical income, combined with Thomas’s wages, likely helped the family afford their home. Both Mary and Julia had received substantial inheritances from their father Peter Plunkett’s estate in 1903, about $1,358.24 each (roughly $50,000 today). Those funds may have helped to cover the down payment. Meanwhile, Julia gains the security and companionship of family life without maintaining a separate household.
This pattern of extended family cooperation would define the household for decades.
1910: Growth and Expansion
The 1910 federal census shows the family unit expanding. More children have arrived. The family remains at the same address, building equity and stability in their Brooklyn neighborhood.
Julia Plunkett continues living with them, her presence now spanning nearly a decade. This long-term arrangement was not unusual for the era. Many unmarried women found security and purpose within extended family networks rather than living alone.
The seeds of something larger were already taking root.
1915: The Peak
The 1915 New York State Census reveals the household at its fullest extent. Ten people live under one roof:
Thomas and Mary Dowling with their four children (William 12, Marie 8, Julia 7, baby Gwendolyn 28 days), plus four of Mary’s Plunkett siblings (Julia 42, Bridget Elizabeth 52, James 64, Stephen 40). The Leavens couple (Edwin, 29 and Esther, 33) likely lived in the other unit of the duplex.
The occupations tell the economic story. James and Stephen Plunkett work as paper makers in the family business their father Peter had established. Thomas continues as a house painter. Edwin Leavens works as a machinist. Three solid wage earners support the extended family.
Today, multigenerational households are often viewed as unusual. In 1915 Brooklyn, they were strategy.
Julia and Bridget Plunkett’s occupations appear as “housework,” but managing a ten-person family unit in 1915 required sophisticated skills. Meal preparation for ten people, laundry by hand, coordinating schedules, managing the home budget – these women’s labor made everything else possible.
Having grown up visiting this house for holidays and family gatherings when my grandparents lived there, I can picture exactly where everyone fit. The main floor had a small kitchen at the back with just a small table and chairs – imagine preparing meals for ten people in that space. There was a main bedroom, a bathroom and another bedroom off the hallway. The only other room was a large living room that I’m told had once been partitioned to create another bedroom, though by my time it was open and partly used as a dining room. The attic held two more bedrooms and possibly another bathroom.
That was it. Four or five bedrooms, one or two bathrooms, and a tiny kitchen for ten people. On winter mornings, ten people likely waited turns at the wash basin while breakfast simmered on the stove. The logistics of daily life – who slept where, who bathed when, how everyone gathered for meals – must have required constant negotiation, cooperation, and patience.
This was not charity. It was deliberate. Everyone contributed. Everyone gained. Shared expenses, multiple incomes, built-in childcare, and pooled resources created a survival strategy that worked because everyone benefited from it.
1915-1920: Tragedy and Adaptation
Just months after the 1915 census taker recorded the household, tragedy struck. James Plunkett fell down the stairs in the house and died from his injuries on June 11, 1915.
The 1920 federal census shows how the family adapted. The extended family network contracted slightly but remained intact. Julia and Bridget Plunkett continued living with the Dowlings. Stephen had married and moved to his own residence. The family weathered both James’s death and the upheaval of World War I. Tenants continued renting the second unit.
Census records reveal adaptation, not just documentation.
1925: A New Generation Returns
The 1925 New York State Census shows the family maintaining their residence through the prosperous 1920s, but the composition has shifted. Marie has moved out to establish her own household. But William has returned with his wife Elizabeth and infant daughter Mary, creating a three-generation home.
Nine people now live in the main unit: Thomas and Mary, their daughters Julia and Gwendolyn, William’s young family, and Bridget Plunkett, whose commitment to the family now spans two decades. Non-family tenants occupy the second unit.
The pattern continues: extended family cooperation adapts to new circumstances. When William needed housing for his growing family, the Brooklyn house welcomed another generation.
1930: Depression Era Survival
The 1930 federal census arrives just as the Great Depression begins reshaping American life. William has moved out with his family. Julia and Gwendolyn still live at home, with Julia now working full-time contributing to the household income. The second unit stands empty—Depression-era economics probably made finding tenants difficult.
The census reveals something crucial: Bridget Plunkett, not Thomas Dowling, owns the property.
This ownership arrangement probably saved the family home. When Thomas faced financial strain during the Depression, Plunkett family money – likely from the inherited paper-making business – provided the security that kept the Brooklyn house intact.
Extended family networks did not just provide emotional support. They created financial resilience during economic crisis.
1940: War and Transition
The 1940 census shows the household in transition. Thomas Dowling was 79 years old. Mary was also aging. Julia and Gwendolyn were both living at home and probably provided the only income since the rest of the family was well past working age.
Bridget Plunkett remained. Her continued presence through nearly four decades of census records demonstrates extraordinary commitment to family.
But the 1940 census captures something else significant: the Panchak family now rents the second unit. Michael and Pauline Panchak live there with their two sons, William (21) and George (17). The duplex arrangement that had sheltered extended family and various tenants over the decades would soon create a new family connection. Gwendolyn, 25 and still living at home, would marry William Panchak before the next census. The house itself facilitated the meeting.
1950: The Final Census Record
The 1950 census provides the last snapshot of this era and reveals the house’s continued role in family life. Bridget Plunkett was still living at the address, now well into her eighties. Thomas had died in 1944. Mary passed in 1945.
The second unit now houses the next generation: Gwendolyn and William Panchak with their three daughters. The duplex arrangement that brought William’s parents as tenants in 1940 now shelters Gwendolyn’s young family. The house continues its role of providing housing security across generations.
When Bridget died in 1950, she deeded the house to Julia (my grandmother) and Gwendolyn Dowling Panchak. The property stayed in the family, eventually passing to my aunt, who lives there today.
From 1905 through 1950 and beyond, one Brooklyn house sheltered multiple generations of family.
What These Census Records Teach Us
Following one family at the same address across 45 years of census records reveals patterns that single snapshots cannot show:
Long-term commitment matters. Julia Plunkett lived with the family nearly 30 years. Bridget stayed over 35 years. This was not temporary assistance but deliberate choice.
Economic cooperation creates resilience. Multiple wage earners made homeownership possible. Shared expenses stretched limited resources. The arrangement worked because everyone benefited.
Women’s labor sustained everything. The “housework” designation obscured sophisticated household management requiring significant skill.
Family businesses provided stability. The paper-making enterprise Peter Plunkett established supported multiple family members across decades.
Networks adapt to crisis. The household reorganized after James’s death, survived the Depression through strategic property ownership, and maintained continuity through two world wars.
Geography matters. Staying at one address for 45+ years built equity, created neighborhood connections, and provided stability that mobility could not offer.
The house itself shapes family history. The duplex arrangement brought rental income when needed, housed extended family during crises, and even facilitated the next generation’s marriages. By 1940, tenants in the second unit included the Panchak family—and Gwendolyn would marry William Panchak. By 1950, their young family occupied that same second unit.
Research Applications: How to Track Families Through Census Records
When you find extended family households in census records, look beyond the individual snapshot:
Track the family unit across multiple census years. How does composition change? Who stays? Who leaves? What patterns emerge?
Pay attention to occupations. Do they suggest family businesses or economic cooperation? What income streams supported the residence?
Note property ownership. Do census records or other documents reveal who actually owned the home? This can explain financial arrangements and power dynamics.
Consider women’s contributions. “Housework” often meant sophisticated household management. How many people did these women support?
Look for adaptation patterns. How did the family respond to deaths, economic downturns, or other crises?
The Power of Longitudinal Research
One census record tells you where someone lived at a specific moment. Multiple census records tracking the same family across decades tell you how people built lives, weathered storms, and created stability through mutual support.
Their story is extraordinary only because we followed it long enough to see the pattern. The Dowling-Plunkett household was not unique. Thousands of first-generation American families used similar strategies to achieve homeownership and economic security in early 20th century America. Their stories wait in census records, ready to be assembled into complete narratives.
Next time you find an ancestor in a census record, do not stop there. Follow that address forward and backward through time. Track who lived there, who left, who stayed, and how the family evolved.
You might discover, as I did, that census records suggest far more than simple facts about names and ages. They reveal the strategies that built our families long before we were born.
Your Turn!
What patterns have you found tracking households across multiple census records? Have you discovered extended family arrangements or surprising household compositions? Share your census discoveries in the comments—I’d love to hear your stories!
Ready to track your own family through census records? Start with one address and follow it across as many census years as you can find. Share what you discover in the comments below!
Need a starting point? Check out the FamilySearch Wiki! It’s a great starting point.
Footnotes: The name of the specific street has been omitted to protect the privacy of family still living there.
- “New York Census,” wiki article, FamilySearch Wiki (https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/New_York_Census: accessed 15 February 2026). ↩︎
- 1905 New York state census, Kings County, Brooklyn Borough, Assembly District 18, Election District 24, Block A45A46, page 24 (penned), XXXXX Road, house number 204, Thomas F. Dowling family; imaged, “New York State Census, 1905,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7364/: accessed 3 July 2024). ↩︎
- 1910 U.S. census, Kings County, New York, Brooklyn Ward 29, Enumeration District 1021, page 4A & 4B (penned), XXXXX Road, house number 204, dwelling 43, family 82, Thos. F. Dowling family; imaged, “1910 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7884/: accessed 2 May 2024). ↩︎
- 1915 New York state census, Kings County, New York, Ward No. 29, Assembly District 12, Election District No. 55, Block 8, page 29 (penned), XXXXX, house number 204, Thomas F. Dowling family; imaged, “New York State Census, 1915,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2703/: accessed 5 May 2024). ↩︎
- 1920 U.S. census, Kings County, New York, Brooklyn Assembly District 12, Enumeration District 0718, page 7B (penned), XXXXX Road, house number 204, dwelling 108, family 107, Thomas F. Dowling family; imaged, “1920 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6061/: accessed 5 May 2024). ↩︎
- 1925 New York state census, Kings County, New York, Town Brooklyn, Assembly District 12, Election District No. 48, Block 4, page 8 (penned), XXXXX, house number 204, Thomas F. Dowling family; imaged, “New York State Census, 1925,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2704/: accessed 6 May 2024). ↩︎
- 1930 U.S. census, Kings County, New York, Brooklyn Borough, Ward of city A.D. 12, Enumeration District 24-1641, Block B, Tract 448 (part of), page 1A (penned), XXXXX Road, house number 204, dwelling 2, family 2, Thomas F. Dowling family; imaged, “1930 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224/: accessed 6 May 2024). ↩︎
- 1940 U.S. census, Kings County, New York, Brooklyn A.D. 12, Enumeration District 24-1422, Block B, page 1A (penned), XXXXX Road, house number 204, visited No. 4, Thomas F. Dowling family; imaged, “1940 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2442/: accessed 8 May 2024). ↩︎
- 1950 U.S. census, Kings County, New York, Brooklyn, Enumeration District 24-1724, page 12 (penned), XXXXX Road, house number 204 up, Serial number for dwelling 111, line 17, David Sten family; imaged, “1950 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62308/: accessed 9 May 2024). ↩︎
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