By The Union Staff - Sat, Sep 4, 1999 Computers, CD ROMs and the Internet are making census indexes an increasingly valuable research tool for genealogy. Indexes quickly locate our ancestors in census documents. In addition to surname indexes, there is another index which is often overlooked, the Soundex. The Soundex system was developed by the WPA for the Social Security Administration during the 1930s. The SSAhad to identify people who would become eligible for benefits beginning in the late 1930s, as persons born in the 1870s commenced retiring. Since birth certificates were not a requirement until the early 1900s, other means of proof were necessary. The SSA concluded that those households on the 1880 census, showing children aged 10 and under, would provide proof. Thus, just part of the 1880 census was Soundexed. Almost all the 1890 census was destroyed. The 1900 census was Soundexed, while some of the 1910 and 1920 census were Soundexed. In 1910, a code system called Miracode was introduced. Soundex and Miracode are essentially the same. A Soundex code is made up of the first letter of a surname and three numeric digits. Spelling variations and sound-alike names, such as Myers, Miers, Meyers, Mahar, etc., are indexed together. If there are insufficient consonants to make up the three digits required, a zero is used. If there are too many letters, you simply stop when three digits are reached. The first letter of a person's surname becomes the first letter of the Soundex code. Thus for Meyers the code begins with the letter "M." Vowels and the letters h, w, and y are not coded. If two letters, or their equivalent, appear together, such as "ck" or "ll," they are coded as one letter. The remaining letters of a surname are coded as follows: 1 = b, p, f, v 2 = c, s, k, g, j, q, x, z 3 = d, t 4 = l (ell) 5 = m, n 6 = r Meyers is coded M620; Ebelson would be coded as E142. The census records, with a soundex code, were transcribed onto cards which were alphabetized and then microfilmed. Each card shows the family location on the main census so it is possible to check for errors in transcription - and errors do exist. The National Archives Web site will automatically encode a surname for you at http://www.nara.gov/genealogy/soundex/