If you find a family listed at the top or bottom of a page in
the census, take care about blithely hopping to the “previous”
or “next” page. Occasionally pages are out of order, so that the
family’s continuation is actually not on the page one would
assume it will be. If the enumerator has written the surnames in
every line, or at least at the top of the next page, this may be
easily seen, but sometimes one has to check the page numbers to
determine if you are really seeing entries for the rest of the
family. However, thisexample from Oktibbeha County, MS in 1930
lists parents William T. and Lucy Cothran with sons Pope M. and
Carl C. on page 2B, while the rest of the household, sons
William and James and Lucy’s father, Pope Williams are at the
top of page 2 A. Only the dwelling and family visitation numbers
reflect the fact that this is a family. So instead of going to
the next page, to find the continuation of the family, one must
look at the top of the previous page. So remember to examine
your material tho