|
Important Facts To Remember When Using An Index Census indexes were compiled from the U.S. Federal census microfilms (1790 - 1920) over the last 30 years by various companies, all of which are defunct. Almost all of the indexes are head of household only. Always check under the head of household's name first. Check under the spouses name if a head of household search yields negative results. Check under the children's names if necessary. Occasionally, children have been picked up by mistake in the indexes. Search under different spellings of the surname.
MCDUFFEY, William It cannot be stressed enough. Check under ALL possible spellings. Too often people miss their ancestor in the index; because they didn't check under an alternate spelling. It is a lot more effective to spend a few additional minutes using an index; than to spend several hours reading a microfilm. Remember it doesn't matter how you spell your surname today, the enumerator often spelled it any way they wanted without bothering to ask your ancestor. Search for abbreviations of the given name. Example:
MCDUFFEY, William Depending on the thoroughness of the enumerator, abbreviation was a common practice, so it is always a good idea to expect it in the census indexes. Occasionally, you'll even find the surname abbreviated. Here are several examples:
Wmson = Williamson Indexes have been generated for every federal census through 1870 but the quality of work varies greatly. Even when you use an index it's a good idea to carefully check the film if you are reasonably certain your ancestor was there. Entries have been missed! Studies have been conducted that indicate error rates that exceed 20%. While this is probably too high to be used as an average it's a good idea to keep in mind that indexes do miss people who should have been included. The major companies which produced census indexes were:
Accelerated Indexing Systems All three are now defunct or have been absorbed by other companies. Currently, no one is indexing records on any kind of a large basis. Reason: It has just grown too costly to index them, attempts to extract them over seas has met with dismal failures.
|