I don't know about the McGuinns, but I do know about the census... Yes, a woman can be head of house if her husband is absent. Check the marital status column(s) -- it should tell if she is married, widowed, or divorced. Different census years show different info, but the time period that you are asking about will tell. By the way, the 1900-10 census will show the number of years married, & 1910 also shows how many marriages a person had (M1, M2, M3, etc). Both years also show the number of children a woman has given birth to & how many are living. These extra goodies are not found on the Soundex. Valerie From: "Al Jordan" <ajordan@sc.rr.com> Reply-To: ILSALINE-L@rootsweb.com To: ILSALINE-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [ILSALINE-L] Martin McGuinn Date: Tue, 15 May 2001 19:43:44 -0400 Surname: McGuinn I am looking for a death notice, obituary or cemetery location for a Martin McGuinn who died between 1905-1910. Any information on Martin McGuinn would be greatly appreciated! In a census record, could they list a woman as a head of household if her husband was living but not home at the time the census was taken? Such as a business trip? Thanks in advance. Judy _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com