On Thu, 25 May 2000 05:59:13 -0700, you wrote: >Would like to know the best place to find an index and information for a >census in PA for the years 1870,1880, and 1890. > >In other words, I would like to find out how to find the right film for my >pursuit? > >Ron Richardson > Hi Ron; There are a couple of indexes available on CD for PA in 1870, Heritage Quest publishes one I know of. As far as I know the 1880 soundex for Pennsylvania is only available at the National Archives regional offices or from your local Family History Center. The 1880 soundex also only includes heads of families who had children under 10. The 1890 Federal Census was destroyed in a fire and only a few pages survive for the whole country. Sometimes the only way is to go through the census schedules line by line on microfilm. If you know the county and township it's not too bad. If you know only the county it's painfull but possible. Regards, Bob Bob Starkins mailto:rstarkins@earthlink.net