[or-roots] Re: Census Records, Marks family

[SwimRef34 at aol.com]

Barb,
     You have missed my point here. My suggestion was absolutely NOT to use 
the recently compiled online (familysearch.org) & CD index done by the LDS 
Church, the quality of this work varies very widely. In the case of Montana and 
other very rural areas it is very poor, in other cases not too bad, but in EVERY 
case it is inferior by a wide margin to the Soundex microfilms from the 
Census Bureau. Large numbers of people in the 1880 census cannot be found using the 
LDS index, in the majority of cases these can be located using the much more 
accurate microfilmed Federal index cards. Microfilm rolls of the Soundex cards 
can be used at any branch of the National Archives, and can be ordered into 
any Family History Center and many public and private libraries.
     Online genealogy is a great thing, and fast and convenient for sure, but 
sometimes we need quality that is simply not available online. In this 
particular case I did look for the family in the LDS index at familysearch, and was 
not at all surprised that they did not appear to be indexed. Since they almost 
certainly were enumerated in the census, it is time to use a more accurate 
search technique.

Kevin Fraley


In a message dated 12/26/2003 6:56:15 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
wulf at bendcable.com writes:

<< Noticed the suggestion to check the soundex for the 1880 Census to find
 people on that record.
 
 http://www.familysearch.org
 
 The LDS site has the 1880 Census Index on line and unless you check the
 'exact spelling' option will search by soundex.
 
 Barb >>