I received an inquiry about various census records. It is not surprising people are confused. You could take a course on the census alone -- there's a lot to know if you are serious. The first official US census was in 1790 and they have been conducted every ten years since. The first census for Logan County would be 1840 [it was created in 1839]. In 1830 it was part of Sangamon as it was in 1820. There were not more than a handful of people in what is now Logan County in 1820 and there is no guarantee they were counted. The first censuses, through 1840, list heads of household only. The 1850 and subsequent censuses list everyone in each household [in theory anyway]. The majority of the 1890 census was destroyed by the government after a fire in 1921. The records apparently weren't actually burnt, just destroyed because it was too much work to clean up and sort out. The government has a method for releasing census data that is supposed to protect privacy. They have released all the census data through the 1920 census. I forget when they are going to release the 1930 census -- not that far into the future. One of the easiest ways to determine the information available in each census is to find the forms for transcribing each one. They are available online and in many books on genealogy. In addition to the federal census records there are Illinois' census records. Those run every ten years from 1825-1865. They are indexed -- although the 1865 index is not complete -- at the state archives. You can request information via email. Go to the state archives web site for more information about census and other holdings. http://www.sos.state.il.us/depts/archives If that address doesn't work [and it doesn't for some people] use http://www.sos.state.il.us/ and then click on archives. Cheryl Rothwell LoganCty@mindspring.com Coordinator, Logan County, ILGenWeb Project http://www.rootsweb.com/~illogan/loindex.htm Logan County mailing list> LOGAN-L-request@rootsweb.com Downing mailing list> DOWNING-L-request@rootsweb.com Harding mailing list> HARDING-L-request@rootsweb.com Downing query board> http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/FamilyAssoc/Downing Lucas query board> http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/FamilyAssoc/Lucas