Oliver Oviatt, my first clue

Before the internet, census research consisted of a visit to a family history or a state library. Census information consists of  reels of microfilmed information housed in large filing cabinets. All types of data is cross-referenced in books that list names in census, birth, state and family records (if we are lucky). 

I soon found out that not all records are referenced and not all references are correct. "People" transcribe names and handwriting can be interpreted differently. In addition to this, census takers often spelled names phonetically which means Oviatt could be spelled Ovet, Oviet, Oviat (many variations). 

The process consists of hauling large books from shelves and thumbing through lists of surnames until... EUREKA!

The excitement of finding a link is thrilling!

I was fortunate to live in an area with access to the large family history library at the Oakland LDS church as well as the Sutro library in San Francisco.