John said; "<snip> I believe there is also a Wayandotte in southern Kansas, I don't recall whether it was still Indian Territory at that date"- "<snip> I've heard of Soundex before, but I'm not sure what it is. Do you know of a site that I can access for information?" No- there was no "Indian Territory" in the area that became Kansas after about 1840. I'm happy that you asked about the Soundex. It's one of the most important resources for doing genealogy and many newer genealogist do not know how to use it! By using it, you should be able to locate your ancestors in 1920, 1910, 1900 and (for those who had children "age 10 or younger" living in the household) the 1880. You need to have some idea as to what state that they were living in at the time of those census years, but you can get that information from the birth and death certificates of your parents, grandparents, (etc) that I KNOW you have already ordered <g>. First go to http://rwguide.rootsweb.com/guideslist.html and look over the list of "How to---'s. For the Soundex, click on Lesson #9. Try to figure out the coding method yourself first, but if you are unsure-- go to http://www.nara.gov/genealogy/soundex/soundex.html . At that site you can automatically get the code by just typing in the surname! Compare it to the coding that you did (instructions on the Rootsweb Lesson #9) to gain confidence that you CAN do it yourself. best of luck! jc