> Trying to trace grandfather through the census. > > Known facts: b. 1862, Clinton Henry Co MO > 1870 Census - Dallas Co TX with parents/siblings > 1880 Census - not found, parents/siblings found in Hill Co TX. Older > sister not listed with parents/siblings at this time either > 1883 - marries, place unknown > 1900 Census - Johnson Co TX > 1910 Census - Hill Co TX > 1920 Census - Johnson Co TX > d. 1926, Ft Worth Tarrant Co TX > > What types of records should I search to find an eighteen year old > single male? I have done a page/page search of the 1880 census > records for Dallas Co, Hill Co, and Johnson Co TX. > > "Dianne Jones" <jonesn8@attbi.com> Don't give up on the census yet. If I found Maynardier, you can probably find your guy. First off, are you certain all those counties were separate counties in 1880? (I'd guess so, because you said you looked at each of 'em, but I thought I'd ask, because if x county was still part of b county ...) Go over to www.familysearch.org, click SEARCH and then click CENSUS (THEN select 1880 US if it'll let you; sometimes it doesn't). I use the CDs, so I don't remember how much of this the site will permit -- specify SURNAME, Texas, male, birthday =/- 2 years. Eyeball it -- anyone have a name that matches your GF's first or middle name? that matches his initials (either in right or wrong order)? Still no BINGO? Then repeat, using his mother's maiden name instead of his surname. Eyeball it, same flags. Still nothing? Repeat, using the surname of the men his sisers married. Still zero? If his surname is common, this will now take several tries; repeat the search using his surname, his given name, and no state, no age. (I have one guy who showed up on the census index aged 97; he was actually 41, but the 4 was sloppy and the 1 was worse.) Repeat with his middle name, then with his initials. If you're still not finding him, drive over to the nearest FHC that isn't on-line and use the 1880 census CDs, which will permit you to search all of Texas for his given name (unless it's John or William, this helps). Look for his future wife's family. Look for the future in-laws of his siblings; look at the nearest establishment of higher learning. (We're still in the census now.) If you're still drawing a blank, there are a couple possibilities -- the good one is, his name is so mangled either on the index or in the census itself that you will hardly recognize it when you see it; the bad one is, he was missed. If the census enumerator called in at the ranch during roundup, branding, haying, or calfing, chances are good that there were so many people around 10% to 20% simply didn't get counted because the enumerator lost track of who he'd talked to and who he hadn't...or because the farm wife was too busy trying to put a hot meal on the table to answer his fool questions. Now, you figure out if Texas had any sort of personal property taxes in 1880 (prolly not, it doesn't sound very Texas). If they do, then you look at the PP tax lists for the counties where you'd expect to find him. If they don't, you look for (in no particular order) police blotters, newspapers (frequently reported guests at local hotels), church bulletins. None of which are indexed, few of which are on-line, and most of which are painful to try to read. If you already know his parents, are you sure you care that much? (GBG) Cheryl singhals@erols.com