Today, at a branch of the Natl Archives, I got to play around with the newly released SET OF ABOUT 50 CDs for the 1880 ENTIRE U. S. census. What an improvement these CDs are, over the 1880 soundex which omitted families unless the family had a child 11 and younger in their home. (The family was in the 1880 census, but just not placed on a soundex card.) This new set of about 50 CDs has the entire U. S. census abstracted for 1880, with an INDEX for each state. Of course this works well if you know which state yours should have been in, for 1880. The search page allows you to even specify where you think they were (county) within a state. You can search by the wife's married name or search for a child by giving his name and apx birthyear...or you can leave birth year off if you wish to see everyone that has the same name as the one you are asking for in the state. If computer finds several people with the same name you asked for...then you can choose one and click on the county listed for that one, to see an abstract (details) of the entire family including relationships. Or, you could do a search for all the people with one surname in one county in one state. So lots of combinations. HOWEVER, as I was about to put the set away, I discovered there was an additional NATIONAL alphabetical Index within this set. This is such a treasure when you don't know where yours went, so you can search on a National scale. One CD might have all the people in the US with the surnames which start with A-B, the 2nd CD might have all the surnames which start with C-E, etc. After choosing one CD, just type in the name you seek and if found, computer will tell you what state they were in (then you switch to the state CD to see details). When you type in your persons name, you can give additional data if you know it, such as what state they were born, what year of birth within a range of 5 years either side of the year you give...this helps narrow down your NATIONAL search especially if it is a common surname. Tips: at the top of the page (on left) you'll see an icon of a binocular and if you click on it, it brings up the search screen. The other tip is when you want to go back to the previous screen, instead of a back arrow, you just hold down the control key and press G. I'm sure there are other tips but that's all I learned today. I'm still considering buying a set for my home, believe it or not, this 50 CD set sells for about $50 I think (about the cost of blank CDs). However, I'm sure all the Family HIstory Centers (of LDS) across the country will have a set for you to use free in their facility. You could call the one at Murfreesboro and check. Happy hunting. Joyce, Burleson, Tx

I bought the 1880 Census set and overall it is very good. However, I couldn't find one of my ggreatgrandfathers that I knew was on there. I checked my copy and looked up one of his neighbors. You can click on and find the surrounding families on this set. There I found my ggreatgrandfather, but his name was spelled Beaud, instead of the correct Beam. I found another neighbor with his named spelled Haffington instead of Heffington. So, there are a few mistakes and just keep checking on different spellings. There is a National Index included and you can search the entire US for you relative. There several of the same name with the states they were born and where they are in 1880 and when you click on each name, it tells you which CD to find the census for that person. Very easy to use. SALTERR@aol.com wrote: > Today, at a branch of the Natl Archives, I got to play around with the newly > released SET OF ABOUT 50 CDs for the 1880 ENTIRE U. S. census. What an > improvement these CDs are, over the 1880 soundex which omitted families > unless the family had a child 11 and younger in their home. (The family was > in the 1880 census, but just not placed on a soundex card.) > This new set of about 50 CDs has the entire U. S. census abstracted for > 1880, with an INDEX for each state. Of course this works well if you know > which state yours should have been in, for 1880. The search page allows you > to even specify where you think they were (county) within a state. You can > search by the wife's married name or search for a child by giving his name > and apx birthyear...or you can leave birth year off if you wish to see > everyone that has the same name as the one you are asking for in the state. > If computer finds several people with the same name you asked for...then you > can choose one and click on the county listed for that one, to see an > abstract (details) of the entire family including relationships. Or, you > could do a search for all the people with one surname in one county in one > state. So lots of combinations. > HOWEVER, as I was about to put the set away, I discovered there was an > additional NATIONAL alphabetical Index within this set. This is such a > treasure when you don't know where yours went, so you can search on a > National scale. One CD might have all the people in the US with the surnames > which start with A-B, the 2nd CD might have all the surnames which start with > C-E, etc. After choosing one CD, just type in the name you seek and if found, > computer will tell you what state they were in (then you switch to the state > CD to see details). When you type in your persons name, you can give > additional data if you know it, such as what state they were born, what year > of birth within a range of 5 years either side of the year you give...this > helps narrow down your NATIONAL search especially if it is a common surname. > Tips: at the top of the page (on left) you'll see an icon of a binocular > and if you click on it, it brings up the search screen. The other tip is > when you want to go back to the previous screen, instead of a back arrow, you > just hold down the control key and press G. I'm sure there are other tips but > that's all I learned today. > I'm still considering buying a set for my home, believe it or not, this > 50 CD set sells for about $50 I think (about the cost of blank CDs). However, > I'm sure all the Family HIstory Centers (of LDS) across the country will have > a set for you to use free in their facility. You could call the one at > Murfreesboro and check. Happy hunting. Joyce, Burleson, Tx > > > ==== TNRUTHER Mailing List ==== > The 8th National Dement Family Reunion, St. Louis, July 20-22, 2001 > Banquet program will include memorial service, migration into MO, and the NEW Dement Book. Contact Dawn Dement Detring, detring@hotmail.com (Deadline for Banquet is July 1st)