Doris, Your right, hat could very well be a possibility that census taker made a mistake, that's why I was concerned about the middle initial R was after James name on 1 of 3 census. Everything else seemed matched, but to validate that I have the right family is going to be a task. I'm still searching in 1850 & 1860 for James D. Mitchell in Indiana counties, but it takes a lot of time when searching for a son under head of household. I'm trying to obtain all the information I can off the computer, before leaving California via Texas to do research in Indiana for the third time in 4 years. Regards, Richard In a message dated 2/8/03 1:39:21 PM Eastern Standard Time, MITCHDOR@aol.com writes: << I have found the Mitchell and Mitchel spelling in my family too, I think alot of times the name was spelled the way the census taker preferred to spell it. Doris >>