In a message dated 12/17/2006 3:07:39 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [email protected] writes: My understanding is that Ancestry.com has been outsourcing some (read to be a lot) of the indexing of the records. My source said some of the indexes to the census returns were outsourced to people in Southeast Asia. Without a working knowledge of the English language and our surnames, it is a wonder the indexing hasn't been any worse than it is. It doesn't surprise that Macoupin county has been incorrectly spelled. I have also seen McCoupin, M'coupin along the way and not just on Ancestry.com. Linda Arnold Ancestry and Heritage Quest have both outsourced the census records to India and a few other countries. Sometimes the results are different for the two products. The good news - we are now able to find more of our ancestors and not use microfilm. The results are far better than what as available before. Both products allow you to look at the actual census record. They have also enhanced many of the films making reading the actual pages a lot easier. There will be some ancestors hiding and it will take more work to find them. Check your local libraries - they may have both Ancestry and Heritage Quest that you can use at the library. If you are very lucky some libraries allow you to use it from home for FREE. Both products allow you to search on a first name - and you can narrow the search down by including other known information on a person. Suggestion - if your library has Ancestry - do search at home than go to library to look at actual page. Many libraries have a time limit on their computer use. PS - if someone is looking for a Holiday Gift suggestion from you - consider Ancestry (getting expensive - may need a few Santa helpers to pool their money), _www.everton.com_ (http://www.everton.com) (Everton Publishers - remember them - they are now on-line) or another service. First check your public library. Also, I noticed more states are adding records to their Internet sites (for free). Illinois has great records on-line. Happy Hunting, Kathie Mirabella Macoupin County, IL Mail List Manager http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilmacoup/macoupin.htm