Really. The soundex of the 1880 census was done by the Works Progress Adm in 1937 at the request of the Census Office, Age Search Group, for the purpose of providing proof of age for those many people who did not have a birth certificate or other proof of age for filing for Social Security. The Census Office hired Rand Corp to design the index coding, in 1935, at the request of the Social Security Adm. If you are really interested in the facts, please read the article "Census Facts & Figures" by William Dollarhide, in the Jul-Aug issue of Heritage Quest Magazine, Issue #76, page 108. It also explains why only households with children 10 and under were indexed. This purpose of the Soundex is also given by George K. Schweitzer, Ph.D., Sc.D., nationally recognized historian, expert in genealogical sources and techniques, and genealogy lecturer widely in demand throughout the U.S. -----Original Message----- From: John and Sandy Reedy <jjreedy@ix.netcom.com> To: ILLASALL-L@rootsweb.com <ILLASALL-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Friday, November 06, 1998 2:10 PM Subject: [ILLASALL-L] Re: ILLASALL-D Digest V98 #41 >Really!? >The Social Security program began in the 1930's. Soundex goes back well before >that. > > > >> Subject: Re: [ILLASALL-L] 1880 La Salle Co Census >> Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1998 07:36:25 -0800 >> From: "Jean C Gobel" <jcgobel@email.msn.com> >> To: ILLASALL-L@rootsweb.com >> >> The Soundex was not done for military purposes, it was done when Social >> Security was established to provide a possible base for claimants. >> > > > > >==== ILLASALL Mailing List ==== >List problems? First, read the Welcome Message that you received when you >subscribed. Feel free to contact me, Carol Ryan-Spenader, list administrator, >with questions concerning this list! spenader@earthlink.net >