To all the listers who have joined the "scream list," I just thought of this and thought that many of you might not know this (I didn't until my last trip to the library...but it sure explains why I can't find some folks on the 1880 Soundex). Quoting from the librarian's census book (forgot to get the name of it): "1880--Until recent years, the fastest method for finding names in the 1880 census for most states was to use the Soundex, a PARTIAL index that includes ONLY households with children ten years old and under in residence. Compiled by the Work Projects Administration (WPA), the Soundex index was designed to identify those who would be eligible for Social Security. Important to remember when using the 1880 Soundex is that, while a large portion of the population is not indexed because many families had no children ten years old or under, all individuals and families were supposed to have been included in the original census schedules....." Yep...you read it right :o( If the folks you are looking for on the 1880 didn't have a child under 10 years old living with them, then they ARE NOT in the soundex! Pack a lunch and get out your reading glasses and be prepared to spend the day at the library doing a line by line search of the 1880 census microfilm :o( I know...I've done it....and it's not fun...especially when you don't find who you were looking for to begin with. Hope that helps someone, Kelly Priestly