Hi Listers -- This is the answer to a question posed by Mark Wentling in his posting last week, to wit: "Also, is there any way that an alphabetical list of persons in the database (or at least a list of surnames) could be made accessible through the database? It is difficult to find a person when one doesn't know the census takers used an alternate spelling of the actual name -- such a list would solve that problem...." (see full text copy below) The 1850 census surname search engine is more flexible than the instructions on the site would suggest. You do NOT need to type in a complete surname... There are several ways to find a person with an elusive spelling: (1) Type only the first few letters of the surname -- a list of all persons in the database whose surnames start with those letters will be returned. An extreme example of this it to type only the letter "a" -- this search yields 939 records -- too many to look at 25 at a time... but with two letters, things become manageable "ab" = 47 records, "ac" = 72 records That's only 2-3 screens to scan if those two letters will get you started. (2) Try all your variant spellings in this same manner... In my own case, I used HIN and got 60 records -- 42 that were ones I wanted to look up (HINDS, HINE, HINES -- and none for variants HINS, HIND, HINDES). I used HYN for the variants HYNDS/HYNDES/HYNES/HYNS (there were no records). I used HEI for the variants HEINS, HEINES, HEINZ, HEINTZ (there were no records). I checked HAN for HANES (we've found that spelling a few times) (there were none in the 50 records returned). Interesting find: I checked HIR (we've seen HIRES for HINES)... and found only two records -- both for the apparent surname of "Hired Girl", both with a first name Mary in the same household (ages 12 & 17 both born Ire)... curious! COMMENT: It would be nice to be able to search on any of the fields (especially dwelling number or family number). It would save alot of time by grouping family members all together in one search result. ... and for Mary the hired girl, we'd know who she lived with and be able to do further research without have to go to the original census record sheet. (3) watch out for the first letter(s) being incorrect or part of the variant (your past experience might be your guide here, depending on your surname. For example, SHAFER vs SCHAFER or SCHMIDT vs SMITH or PHARR vs FARR I'm sure everyone has there own version of this kind of thing. That's it... hope this suggestion helps a few researchers. // Gord Hines (in Regina SK Canada) ps: I know there are still more variants of HINES, but the ones above serve the demonstration purpose. Mark Wentling wrote: Subject: RE: 1850 Jefferson Co. Census Resent-Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2000 06:45:27 -0800 Resent-From: NYJEFFER-L@rootsweb.com Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2000 09:44:38 -0500 From: "Mark Wentling" <mwentlin@ngs.org> To: NYJEFFER-L@rootsweb.com > Here is the answer to Michael's question . . . . . > > --Mark > ---------------------- Forwarded by Mark Wentling/HQ/NGS on 02/08/2000 09:44 AM > --------------------------- > > "Boni" <boni@ix.netcom.com> on 02/06/2000 10:18:31 AM > > To: Mark Wentling/HQ/NGS@NGSDOMAIN > cc: > Subject: RE: NYGenExchange: 1850 Jefferson Co. Census > > Mark > Sorry it's taken so long to answer your email. > > The following is a list of census finished and online at genexchange > Adam, A-bay, Brownsville, Clayton, Hounsfield, LeRay, Lyme, Pamelia, Rodman, > Rutland, Theresa, and Watertown.. > > We have four more about ready to enter online : Ellisburg and Worth are > about ready... > Champian, Orleans still need a little more editing. > By May we hope to have Ellisburg, Worth, Champion, and Orleans online , > which will give us 16 of the 22 town. > > . > Do to health problems of our volunteer's. The remaining four towns have not > been recorded or entered into a data base. > I've been told I should have waited till all 22 town where finished, it may > have been another year or two . > > Bonnie Shafer > > -----Original Message----- > From: Mark Wentling [mailto:mwentlin@ngs.org] > Sent: Friday, January 07, 2000 9:01 AM > To: boni@ix.netcom.com > Subject: NYGenExchange: 1850 Jefferson Co. Census > > Hi Bonnie, > > I'd like to thank you and your volunteers for putting the valuable 1850 > census > data for Jefferson County online in a searchable format -- it's a fantastic > resource! > > Some of us Jefferson County researchers, myself included, have searched for > ancestors that we know were living in the county, but they do not show up in > the > database. I am wondering if you could perhaps tell me what portions of the > census have not yet been uploaded to the database, or what parts might have > been > skipped. > > Also, is there any way that an alphabetical list of persons in the database > (or > at least a list of surnames) could be made accessible through the database? > It > is difficult to find a person when one doesn't know the censustakersused an > alternate spelling of the actual name -- such a list would solve that > problem > because people to pick out the variants for themselves. > > Thanks again very much for this great resource -- it's nice to have such a > complete tool online and not just an index! > > Regards, > Mark A. Wentling > > ============================== > The RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: > 12.8 million individuals and counting. > http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/