This was in a recent issue of the RootsWeb Review: Finding Disguised Ancestors By Carol Embesi For a couple of years, I couldn't find my Catherine WALDROP in Desoto or Tate counties in Mississippi in the 1870 census. I knew she was there. I just couldn't find her. Researching the husband of one of her daughters, I came upon a Catherine HOWARD. Guess what? This was my Catherine WALDROP. The children in her house in 1860 and 1880 matched perfectly. And, the husband of the child was two doors down. These census records have been recopied several times. Each record is subject to the interpretation of the person copying the record. How WALDROP became HOWARD is still a mystery to me, but it happened. So, if exact name and Soundex fail, use any means you can think of to access the record, including going line-by- line on the census. I f you know they were there, they probably are. ============ Previously published in RootsWeb Review: 23 June 2004, Vol. 7, No. 25.

It is possible, as I have discovered the same thing in my own family research of the census records. But the fact that there many mistakes or misinformation in the enumeration of information makes the census records unreliable. It only provides clues that a particular person or family was in a area at a given time. You must seek out other source records that are accepted as documentation. Anything else would be an assumption without all the other pieces of the puzzle. I wouldn't dwell so much on this particular census record. The chances are your Lucas family was there since you have stated that from the 1840 and 1860 census and they also were there in 1870, I believe. One could reasonably assume they were there as well in 1850. And in a brief look farther down the road, it appears this Lotty or Letty was probably a nickname for Lydia, found in a 1870 or 1880 census if I remember correctly. But the point is, you really need to seek out other source information. Good Luck ! ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeannie" <westfieldfleck-jhf@comcast.net> To: <OH-CENSUS-LOOKUP-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, June 30, 2004 1:56 PM Subject: Fw: Re: [OH-CENSUS] Copies of Census ??? > This was in a recent issue of the RootsWeb Review: > > Finding Disguised Ancestors > By Carol Embesi > > For a couple of years, I couldn't find my Catherine WALDROP > in Desoto or Tate counties in Mississippi in the 1870 census. I > knew she was there. I just couldn't find her. > > Researching the husband of one of her daughters, I came upon a > Catherine HOWARD. Guess what? This was my Catherine > WALDROP. The children in her house in 1860 and 1880 matched > perfectly. And, the husband of the child was two doors down. > > These census records have been recopied several times. Each > record is subject to the interpretation of the person copying the > record. How WALDROP became HOWARD is still a mystery to > me, but it happened. So, if exact name and Soundex fail, use any > means you can think of to access the record, including going line-by- > line on the census. I f you know they were there, they probably are. > ============ > Previously published in RootsWeb Review: 23 June 2004, Vol. 7, No. 25. > > ______________________________