Jane, You are absolutely correct in everything you said. After reading census records for years, I can tell you that it is a wonder sometimes that we find them at all using indices. I will add these off the top of my head: *Some are listed by Middle names only! *Double S, will look like a P or an F. (Bassham=Bapham, i.e.) * The letters S and L are confused very often *Some are listed by initials BUT REVERSED *When a father is dead, and there is a son above legal age, HE will can be listed as Head of Household, NOT his Mother. * I have found the whole name reversed, i.e., Basham Williams, instead of William Basham * People with other than the HH's name will be listed under his name * NEVER take birthplaces for granted, they are one of the most made mistakes, after ages. If you feel they should be there, it may be best, in the end, to go to the library and read the film all the way through. We did not start out with ANY indices, so that is the way we did it in the "olden days." I know I will think of more, but just know there are as many mistakes as you can think of in the Indices, so beware and don't give up. Good idea you had, Jane, Carleen

This probably is well known to you Indiana residents -- but I was raised in another state. Like all of us, I'm accustomed to postal codes -- for example -- "IA" means Iowa. NO??? -- not always. In the 1850 Indiana census, at least one census taker listed place of birth for most children as "IA." I puzzled over that for sometime, wondering how it was possible that all those indiana residents were going to IOWA in 1850 to have their children. An embarrassing amount of time later the light dawned and I realized that in those days, "IA" was this man's abbreviation for INDIANA instead of "IND" as seems to have been more common. jeanne ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, October 31, 2002 10:15 AM Subject: Re: [INDIANA] Census Tips > Jane, > You are absolutely correct in everything you said. After reading census > records for years, I can tell you that it is a wonder sometimes that we find > them at all using indices. > > I will add these off the top of my head: > > *Some are listed by Middle names only! > *Double S, will look like a P or an F. (Bassham=Bapham, i.e.) > * The letters S and L are confused very often > *Some are listed by initials BUT REVERSED > *When a father is dead, and there is a son above legal age, HE will can be > listed as Head of Household, NOT his Mother. > * I have found the whole name reversed, i.e., Basham Williams, instead of > William Basham > * People with other than the HH's name will be listed under his name > * NEVER take birthplaces for granted, they are one of the most made mistakes, > after ages. > > If you feel they should be there, it may be best, in the end, to go to the > library and read the film all the way through. We did not start out with ANY > indices, so that is the way we did it in the "olden days." > I know I will think of more, but just know there are as many mistakes as you > can think of in the Indices, so beware and don't give up. > > Good idea you had, Jane, > Carleen > > > ==== INDIANA Mailing List ==== > To remove yourself from the list, type: > unsubscribe > in the first line of the message - NOTHING ELSE. > Send it to: > [email protected] > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > >

Jeanne: I had seen that too and had wondered. Just thought the census taker got mixed up on their abbreviations. Thanks. Pat ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeanne Surber" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, October 31, 2002 6:41 PM Subject: [INDIANA] Another census tip This probably is well known to you Indiana residents -- but I was raised in another state. Like all of us, I'm accustomed to postal codes -- for example -- "IA" means Iowa. NO??? -- not always. In the 1850 Indiana census, at least one census taker listed place of birth for most children as "IA." I puzzled over that for sometime, wondering how it was possible that all those indiana residents were going to IOWA in 1850 to have their children. An embarrassing amount of time later the light dawned and I realized that in those days, "IA" was this man's abbreviation for INDIANA instead of "IND" as seems to have been more common. jeanne ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, October 31, 2002 10:15 AM Subject: Re: [INDIANA] Census Tips > Jane, > You are absolutely correct in everything you said. After reading census > records for years, I can tell you that it is a wonder sometimes that we find > them at all using indices. > > I will add these off the top of my head: > > *Some are listed by Middle names only! > *Double S, will look like a P or an F. (Bassham=Bapham, i.e.) > * The letters S and L are confused very often > *Some are listed by initials BUT REVERSED > *When a father is dead, and there is a son above legal age, HE will can be > listed as Head of Household, NOT his Mother. > * I have found the whole name reversed, i.e., Basham Williams, instead of > William Basham > * People with other than the HH's name will be listed under his name > * NEVER take birthplaces for granted, they are one of the most made mistakes, > after ages. > > If you feel they should be there, it may be best, in the end, to go to the > library and read the film all the way through. We did not start out with ANY > indices, so that is the way we did it in the "olden days." > I know I will think of more, but just know there are as many mistakes as you > can think of in the Indices, so beware and don't give up. > > Good idea you had, Jane, > Carleen > > > ==== INDIANA Mailing List ==== > To remove yourself from the list, type: > unsubscribe > in the first line of the message - NOTHING ELSE. > Send it to: > [email protected] > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > > ==== INDIANA Mailing List ==== Firstmom's Genealogy Resources - Indiana http://khuish.tripod.com/indiana.htm ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237