"Phil Stevens" <joephil@nwlink.com> wrote: > Hello guys, The Truth is: Everybody IS listed in / on the > soundex cards Yes, Phil. However, if you are looking for a child or a spouse, you have to search by HOH, just as you would in a "regular" index. > Only the 1880 Soundex had children less than 10 years old > listed Actually, what the 1880 U.S. census soundex has is any family with a child age 10 or less (NOT less than 10). This soundex was created so that those who were born in 1870 or later might have a means of establishing their age and eligibility for Social Security. (Those born before 1870 were not eligible.) > ALL Others have EVERY Body, It matters Not what the last > name is, Every Family Group had a Card made for them, EACH > person in the group was on that card, IF there was a different > Surname a separate card was made, WHICH Says Enumerated > with XXX name, and shows where to find it by Volume number, etc The above is true for 1900 and 1920. The soundexes for 1910 and 1930 include only part of the states. And it most certainly DOES make a difference what the surname is. If a person is a spouse or a child of the HOH, then that person will NOT have a separate soundex card. The point of the previous message was that parents and other relatives with the same surname DO have a separate card. It matters not that every person is on a soundex card, what matters is how you go about locating an individual - in his or her separate card or as a part of the card for the HOH. This is exactly the same search process whether you are using the soundex or an on-line index. And - such as some of them are - there are INDEXES for EVERY U.S. Census. There are soundexes for 1880 (part), 1900, 1910 (about half), 1920 and 1930 (a few states). > Trust me Guys, I have looked at 1000`s of them cards If it makes any difference, I also have looked at many thousand such cards, having extracted most of the PENCE, PENSE, PENTZ families for each of the years for which there is a soundex (except the partials in 1930). > You see I live 20 minutes from the Archives You are fortunate and I know it is a convenience for you. But for those of us not quite so fortunate, it really is no longer necessary for most researchers to make the trip to the Archives. In your case it is a branch with, presumably, free parking. In my case it is in downtown DC. Three trips to the Archives to check a census records and I have spent more on parking alone than the cost of a subscription to Ancestry.com. If I were to go to the Archives as often as I know do on-line census research (several times a day), I'd be bankrupt! <g> Richard "Richard A. Pence" <richardpence@pipeline.com>