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Some Notes About the 1950 Census of Guam

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Written by: Bernard Punzalan

Published: 04 March 2022

The release of the 1950 Census images to the public remains scheduled for April 1, 2022. Once again, I do have plans to put a team together to transcribe the census for the CHamoru Roots Genealogy Project.  If all goes well, I hope to have the transcription book published sometime next year.

A few notes/observations about the population of Guam in 1950…

• See my previous article, "Expected Release of the 1950 Census."
• Total population = 59,498. More than doubled from 1940, which was 22,290. The shock growth is attributed to the militarization and refortification of Guam because of World War II.  Thousands of military and contractors were brought into Guam immediately after WWII.  Note the influx of Filipinos. Many were skilled contract workers, mostly recruited from the Philippine province, Iloilo.
• There were 15 Municipalities. The Municipality of Barrigada had the largest population, surpassing the Municipality of Agana, which was the largest in 1940.This will be interesting to compare with the 1940 census pre- and post-WWII. The transformation of Guam involuntarily displaced many native people from their original homes.
• Although Guam was a U.S. Territory, natives, classified as those born on Guam at the time of the census, were only U.S. nationals and not U.S. citizens until naturalized. It would be later that year, in 1950, were federal law would finally naturalize all natives born on Guam. However, the census Form P85 does include a question if the person was already a U.S. citizen.
• On June 30, 1950, The U.S. Department of Commerce released a preliminary population count of 58,754. The final official population count of 59,498. The difference is not surprising but something researchers should be aware of. My transcription numbers from previous census periods do not match with the official count. Primarily, because I transcribe every name, which includes those that were crossed out on the sheet.
• The census Form P85 contains questions about serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, during World War I, World War II or any other time. I suspect that there will be some level of correlation between those who were veterans and became naturalized during their term of service.

Stay tuned…Will put out a call for volunteers to transcribe and index the 1950 Population Census of Guam sometime later this year.

Latest Status of 1940 Census Transcription Book

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Written by: Bernard Punzalan

Published: 25 February 2022

Check out the eBook Demo! 

https://www.chamorroroots.com/v7/index.php/demo-s/1940-census-ebook-demo

 I apologize for the delay in publishing this transcription and its companion Index book. My plan was to have it all printed no later than March 2022, but it seems that it is shifting one more month to right and likely available in April 2022. Appreciate everyone's patience.

CHamoru Roots Genealogy Project Database Profile Sept 2021

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Written by: Bernard Punzalan

Published: 25 September 2021

Punzalan Family in the 1940 Census

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Written by: Bernard Punzalan

Published: 18 September 2021

During the 1940 census, the Punzalan compound on Guam fell within the boundaries of District 1, Barrio of Padre Palomo, which was enumerated by “M. Sgambelluri.” It was the first time I learned that my namesake grandfather owned some kind of pool hall. His occupation was recorded as “Pool owner.”

When the 1940 census was released to the public in 2012, initially, I could not find my Punzalan family.  I had zero search results. But after scouring the census, page-by-page, I found out that it was because our family’s surname was recorded as “Panzalan,” and not the way we traditionally spell it.  On Guam, native CHamoru speakers with a strong accent pronounce it as Pan-sa-lån (CHamoru orthography).   On the other hand, our family from the Philippines pronounce it with a Spanish orthography influence.  Today, most of us simply pronounce as just Pun-za-lun.

A couple of other recording errors within my father’s family include a misspelling of my father’s name that should read Eustaquio and his youngest sister’s name, at the time, which should read Felicita rather than Teresita.

These are also just some examples that require patience when working one’s genealogy.

Ok, that’s all for now. Back to working on the 1940 census transcription book, which I hope to release by early 2020. lol