Good Evening, I would like to once again remind anyone who may not already be aware of the availability of census searches through the Illinois State Archives. If you have the name (preferably the head of household) and the county in which you know or believe him/her to have lived, you can request a search (actually two searches at a time) of the census archives. http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/serv_sta.html If the researchers at the Archives can find a record for the family, they will mail you a photocopy of the actual page on which the entry is found. It will include information on all of the individuals who were living in the household at the time the census(s) was taken. Uncertified photocopies of requested records are available at NO charge (there is some confusion among the genealogy community regarding this, but I can assure you that at this time there is no charge) - also don't bother to send a SASE, they will just return it to you). You can request copies of documents by mail, by fax, by telephone, or by personal visit. You can write/phone/fax your request to the following: Illinois State Archives Reference Unit Margaret Cross Norton Building Capitol Complex Springfield, IL 62756 Telephone: (217) 782-3556 Fax: (217) 524-3930 OR, to make it really easy, you can visit the following URL and complete the request form you will find there. http://www.sos.state.il.us/cgi-bin/archives/arcreq.s Some things to keep in mind when making requests are listed below. Request no more than two specific names or items per mailing. For name searches try to provide (if you have it, but if you don't have all of it don't let that stop you from making your request): 1) the individual's complete name, age, and birthplace, 2) county and township names, and 3) the year of the census(s) to be searched. Wait for a response to one request before submitting another one. The following is the main web page for the Archives, you might want to check it out to see what else is available: http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/archives.html Hope this helps, Karima List Administrator of: Illinois Roots Discussion List (ILROOTS-L) http://userweb.springnet1.com/quest/Illinoismailinglist.htm Southern Illinois Discussion List (SOIL-L) http://userweb.springnet1.com/quest/SOIL.htm J a c k s o n County, Illinois Discussion List (ILJACKSO-L) http://userweb.springnet1.com/quest/JacksonCoWelcome.htm