When the state was surveyed, it was divided into square townships of 6 miles on a side. The twps were numbered by location from a north-south line called a "Principal Meridian" and from an east-west "baseline". In IL, most twps are measure from the 3rd PM, which pretty much splits Illinois into eastern & western halfs. The usual baseline was called the "Centralia" baseline, and ran east-west through St Clair county, and is the southern border of most of Clinton Co. To give you an idea of where it is. There is a "2nd Principal Meridian" in Indiana, that is used to number some of the eastern-most twps in IL, and a "4th Principal Meridian" in the north-west part of IL that is used for some of the twps up there. [Each twp was then divided into 36 1-square-mile "sections" of 640 acres each, but that goes beyond what shows up on census reports.] Madison County, in this respect, consists of 24 townships. The southeastern corner is thus Township 3-North Range 5-West. This means it is the 3rd twp north of the baseline and the 5th west of the 3rd principal meridian. Similarly, the northwestern corner would be T6N R10W, indicating 6th north of the baseline and 10th west of the 3rd PM. All 4 of the western-most twps are partly or mostly cut short by the Mississippi river. In many cases, these townships were given names, like Foster Township. On most census pages, the township is given on the top line by either name or by legal number. On a lower line, the enumerator often also indicated which post office serviced the area. There was quite a lot of overlap, in that many post-offices serviced areas that lay within parts of two or more townships. This would especially be true if it was in a corner of a township; it's service area would not only include much of its own township, but also nearby areas lying within neighboring townships. Generally, the twp numbering system was used primarily to designate legal descriptions of parcels of land, and not so much for "political" boundaries. So this can be confusing. For a much better description of this system, along with a twp map and other graphics, see the IRAD page at: http://cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/data_lan.html#location Hope this helps! Ron ----- Original Message ----- From: "Cathi Gross" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: 12 March 2002 19:02 Subject: RE: [ILMADISO-L] Wood Station > Speaking of the Godfrey, IL. I've been looking at the Census for the 1870 > Census for Madison County. I am having a hard time determing, which > sections of the census would be the Godfrey area. The top part of the > census is determined by these names some names such as alton, and Alhambra, > but others have township 5 range 9 or someother number as that. > > I am trying to find the exact location of a John Belger, and a Laura or Mary > Camp. > > John was from NEW YORK and single born in April 16, 1845 > > and Mary was born right in Alton on December 25, 1849. She have been > living with a woman by the name of Laura or Mary born in Prussa. and her > brothers may have been Henry, Louis, John. > > Anyway, If someone could look this up, or give me some better way of finding > these people in the census that I am looking at right now. > > Thankyou so much for your help, > > Cathi > [email protected] > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Tuesday, March 12, 2002 8:54 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [ILMADISO-L] Wood Station > > > > There is a Wood Station Road in the Godfrey, Illinois area. > > > > Lisa Davis > > > ==== ILMADISO Mailing List ==== > Visit the Madison County ILGenWeb home page! > http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilmadiso/index.htm > > > > ==== ILMADISO Mailing List ==== > Search Engine for Genealogy Madison County Illinois > http://www.google.com/search?q=Genealogy+Madison+County+Illinois&btnG=Google +Search > >