George Irwin, In your post you didn't mention, or I missed another post, exactly what you looked at to find your people on the Adams Co... Census. If you only looked at an index of the Illinois Census, then it is very possible that they will not be found. The published Census indexes have, in general, about a 20% error rate, ranging from omissions to poor interpretations of the spelling of names. Look for any possible alternate spelling and any possible incorrect spelling. If you don't find a family in a state index, check to see if the local Genealogy Society has indexed the county's census, and check that. They are usually accurate. If no county index is available, the only alternative is to obtain the Census on microfilm and go through the whole thing. That can be a laborious process, but it is the only way to find out for sure if a family was there or not. Bill in Kansas