This is a cutout of a 1910 census page.

1. For our purposes here, starting at the left of the form, is their address 1178 Superior. The street name was further up the page in the left margin. But this particular address verified for us that a draft record for August's son Fred meant he was the son of August. This was a nightmare for us because there were at least 10 Fred William (and William Fred) Gahlau's all born within a year or so of each other and who all went by Fred. This was also verified by a Michigan Directory entry that a particular Fred was August's. Draft records have a lot of information to them also, like date and place of birth, address, wife or whomever as the point of contact, employment, and so on.

2. Next is the name Gahlau, August, which the census transcribers wrote as Gablan, August. There are many ways this name was misspelled. Read more in the Gahlau Family Tree. But, when you are searching for the name Gahlau, the program will not look for other spellings unless they are super close. Who would think to use Gablan for Gahlau? Then we see he was the Head of family, was 65 years old, married once, married for 38 years, was from Germany, his dad was born in Germany, and his mother was born in Germany. Next we see that he immigrated in 1872, was naturalized, spoke English, and was a laborer for the Public Works. There's more but it isn't important just now. But for research, we could also seek the naturalization papers for more info.

3. Going down a line to his wife Ernestine; she was 60, married once, married for 38 years, had 8 children and only 6 were living at that time (1910). She was also born in Germany, as was her dad and mom. She also immigrated in 1872 and spoke English. but was never naturalized.

4. They were married about 1872, about the same time they immigrated. This might help to find immigration records for both of them on the same ship . . . or not. And the dates are not always accurate. In fact seldom are they accurate. For example, were they married for 38 years based on their last anniversary or on the date of the census, which could put dates off at least by a year.

5. Their daughter Clara was 17 and single, born in Michigan, and her dad and mom were born in Germany. We also see she was a dressmaker at a Dress House.

One very important note is that we've seen many times, that the columns for number of children born and number of children who were living at the time of that census might not have been clarified by the census taker back then. We think that often they put the numbers in accordance with number of children living at home, and not just living. That can alter the census records dramatically.

Hope this helps.