Continuing... We're looking for the 1840 James Fulton household in Seneca Twp, Ontario Co, NY, with a female under 5 (Cornelia M. Fulton, b 1837). Based on the actual 1840 US Census (not the index), we have identified two possible James Fulton households. Which household is it? James S. Fulton (p105) or James Fulton (p107)? I suspect the 1850 census index prepared by Accelerated Indexing is in error. There is a good chance that "James L Fulton" identified in the 1850 index is actually "James S Fulton" and is the same man we found in the 1840 Census. Why? In 1850, the script letter "S" looked a lot like today's script letter "L". Many typed transcripts of records from this period mistake a capital "S" with a capital "L". (For example, my ancestor, Sena Fulton, has been identified as "Lena", "Tena", even "Lence" Fulton on typed transcripts of early records.) If James S. and James L. Fulton are the same person, then we can eliminate this man as the father of Cornelia M. and James Wesley Fulton. (And, conversely, speculate that James Fulton on page 107 is the father of James Wesley Fulton, b 1841.) How do I determine whether James "S" Fulton and James "L" Fulton are the same person? Here's where our very own ROOTSWEB really shines for genealogy research. Go to the US Genealogy Web (http://www.usgenweb.com) and look at web page for Ontario County, NY. Click on "Census" and you will find links to the 1860 and 1870 US Census index (sorry -- just for Ontario County, NY). You will also finds links to the 1855 and 1865 New York State Census index -- a really great find for our particular question. Here's what I downloaded from the Ontario County web page: 1855 NY State Census Index, Ontario Co, NY Fulton Anna Seneca 156 1855 Fulton Caroline Seneca 156 1855 Fulton James S. Seneca 156 1855 Fulton John Seneca 156 1855 Fulton Margaret Seneca 156 1855 Fulton Presley Seneca 156 1855 Fulton Isabela Phelps 005 1855 Fulton Joseph Phelps 005 1855 1860 US Census Index, Ontario Co, NY Fulton Anna M. Seneca 162 1860 Fulton Carrie C. Seneca 162 1860 Fulton James P. Seneca 162 1860 Fulton James S. Seneca 162 1860 Fulton Margaret A Seneca 162 1860 Fulton Isabella Phelps M103 Fulton Joseph Phelps M103 1865 NY State Census Index, Seneca, Ontario Co, NY Fam # First Name MI Last Name Page D 473 Alda Fulton 62 2 172 Anna M. Fulton 23 3 664 Clarissa Fulton 87 1 473 Emma Fulton 62 2 473 Hannah M. Fulton 62 2 473 Hugh Fulton 62 2 172 James S. Fulton 23 3 172 James P. Fulton 23 3 473 Jennie C. Fulton 62 2 664 Joseph H. Fulton 87 1 473 Lelia A. Fulton 62 2 172 Margaret A. Fulton 23 3 473 Samuel A. Fulton 62 2 (Again, I always rearrange these index lists according to Family #, if possible.) Fam # First Name MI Last Name Page D 172 Anna M. Fulton 23 3 172 Margaret A. Fulton 23 3 172 James S. Fulton 23 3 172 James P. Fulton 23 3 473 Alda Fulton 62 2 473 Emma Fulton 62 2 473 Hannah M. Fulton 62 2 473 Hugh Fulton 62 2 473 Jennie C. Fulton 62 2 473 Lelia A. Fulton 62 2 473 Samuel A. Fulton 62 2 664 Clarissa Fulton 87 1 664 Joseph H. Fulton 87 1 1870 U.S. Census index, Seneca, Ontario Co, NY Fam# Last Name First & MI Page 368 Fulton Anna M. 45 368 Fulton James S. 45 368 Fulton James P. 45 368 Fulton Margaret A. 45 Conclusions? It certainly does appear that the 1850 US Census index prepared by Accelerated Indexing, is in error. The entry should read "James S. Fulton." Of course, if you have access to microfilms of the 1850 US Census, you could simply look at the entry and read it for yourself. (Which is exactly what Clark and Ernie did!) Here's what they found: 1850 US Census, Seneca, Ontario Co, NY (the REAL thing, not an index) The first three columns are the page number, dwelling number, and family number. The name is followed by the age, sex, occupation, value of real estate, and place of birth. There are additional columns for "married within year", "cannot read or write", and "attended school within year". Here's what Clark & Ernie found: Page/Dwllg/Fam Name Age Sex Occup R/E Remarks 270 "Poor House" Sally Fulton 10 F "blind pauper" 434 27 27 Joseph H. Fulton 38 M Merchant $4800 bNY Clausa? 32 F Mary A? 12 F b NY "school" Hugh 10 M b NY "school" 514 1204 1306 James S Fulton 37 M Farmer $4000 bNY Margaret A. 34 F b NY John M. 15 M b NY "school" Carolyn? Carol M? 10 F b NY "school" James P. 7 M b NY "school" Anna M. 9/12 F 522 1337 1439 Joseph Fulton 67 M Farmer $13,800 b PA Isabella 68 F b PA George Bona 22 M Farmer b England William Kinney 13 M b NY Charles Kinney 13 M b NY Yesiree, Bob, er Robert (as we Fultons would say), nothing beats the real thing! Not only did we find that James L Fulton was actually James S Fulton, we have also identified an unindexed Fulton -- little Sally Fulton, b 1840, a "blind pauper." (Who does she belong to?) So what do we know? The James Fulton on page 107 of the 1840 US Census for Seneca Township, Ontario Co, NY, is probably the father of Cornelia M. and James Wesley Fulton. But who was his daddy? Patrice (Fulton) Stark Lone Tree, Colorado