The U.S. Federal Census is one of the best places to begin genealogy research after collecting as much information as possible from family sources. The 1940 census records were released by the US National Archives April 2, 2012, and brought online.
Coupled with family interviews, we learn a great deal about Harold Franklin Nixon (1906 – 1964) from the 1940 Census. Harold (32 yrs. old) was a foreman at McClanahan Oil Company. He worked 70 hours a week on average for this private employer. His wife Edna (23) is in the home with two daughters, Betty Lou (11) and Caroll Anne (2), and son Harold Jr. (8). They lived in Arenac County, Clayton Township, MI.
Importantly, this Census asks where every person was April 1, 1935: Harold lived in Mt. Pleasant, Isabella Co; Edna lived in Ithaca, Gratiot Co; and the oldest two children lived in Shepard, Isabella Co. Family interviews confirm Harold was divorcing his first wife in 1935 though he would later gain custody of Betty Lou and Harold Jr., whereas Edna Carol Young was still at home with her parents at age 18. Caroll Anne was not yet born.
The neighbors were often farmers or they too worked for oil companies. Caroll Anne Nixon would marry Joel Dale Banghart in 1955 so Harold Franklin Nixon, at present, appears as part of Banghart Lineage. This may change as I have significant Nixon family information.