Looking for folks in 1880? Piece of cake

Before I launch into this week's topic, the 1880 census online at the LDS site, I'd like to thank those who wrote and called about the genealogy column in the South Fulton Citizen ... or rather, the lack of it. Apparently, the column was omitted from the paper for the past few weeks. I do apologize. We had a sort of fruitbasket turnover here at the office and, to make things run more efficiently, different people were assigned different tasks. The genealogy column got lost in the shuffle but the situation has now been resolved. I appreciate those who brought the problem to our attention. If there are problems in the future, please don't hesitate to let us know.

Now, for this week's topic, the 1880 LDS online census.

I think I may have mentioned this great research tool when it first appeared sometime last year, but I don't think I have gone into any detail on what all it contains or how it works. This is primarily for those of you who are still new at doing research online (are you listening, Frances?). But genealogy "newbies" will get a lot from it too ... I hope.

This site is just short of amazing. And the enormity of the task it took to do it only hit me recently. Census indexes are available for certain census years, but they only list the head of household. The LDS site lists everybody ... and even gives their relationship to the head of household. The whole site is searchable so, if you don't know your female ancestor's maiden name, it doesn't matter. She will be there under her married name. All persons in the house are there ... in-laws, outlaws, brothers and sisters, daughters and sons, aunts, uncles, grandmothers ... for every state in the nation.

The site also contains the 1881 British and Canadian censuses. Like I said, it's just short of amazing. This project involves millions of people. And the census in 1880 was a real breakthrough for genealogists because it was the first one to list the relationship of persons living in the household, and the first to give the birthplace of parents of those listed.

So, how do you find it and what do you do when you get there?

First, go to www.familysearch.org, the main site for the LDS church. On the left, there is a box noting that the 1880 census is now online. Click on the words in that box and it will take you to the search page, where you fill in your search information. At the top, there is a link that says, "Tips on how to search census records." That may help you search the site, or you can just take the steps I'm going to tell you. Every time you fill in a box, the page will "refresh" and you have to give it a few seconds to digest what you've told it. The first box says "Census" and when you hold the mouse on the little arrows on the right (actually they're triangles) you have your choice of the U.S., Canadian, or British census. Select the U.S. census.

Now, to take full advantage of the search, you don't want to narrow your choices too much, or you may come up with zip. I find it helpful to search for all the families in the county with the surname I'm looking for, so I don't put in a first name. I choose birthplace, United States in that box (use the triangles); census state, Georgia; and whatever county I'm searching. You may search as many counties and states as you like. This thing is really mind-boggling. You definitely want to fill in the race, which will narrow your search to white, native American, black, etc. I do not fill in the birth year or range unless I'm looking for a specific person.

When you're done, click on "search" and it will bring up all the persons with the criteria you have selected. They will be listed by their places in the household ... self, wife, son, daughter, sister, etc.

Click on one of the persons who interests you and it will give you an individual synopsis of that person. But (and here's the fun part), click on "household" on the upper right, and it will show the entire household as it appeared in the census. You also will see, at the top right, a selection for "next household" and "previous household." These would be neighbors. I usually go at least 10 households in each direction to check for other relatives living close by. If you come to a page you want to keep, you may print it out and save it.

The information on the page also includes the LDS and National Archives microfilm roll numbers and the page number in the census where the family may be found. The only drawback is that the household number is not given, but you can easily find this by checking the original census page. If you have images subscription, you can do this in just a few minutes.

Just last night, I searched for all the Peppers and Whaleys in both Gwinnett and Walton counties in 1880. I probably printed out about 30 pages which will further my research for those families. There are the usual transcription errors, but that is to be expected in any census transcription. If you leave the "exact spelling" box unchecked, it will give you all the names that come close. My Whaley search also yielded Wyleys. Peppers also yielded Pepper. Owens, Owen, and Owings came up on my Owen search.

We owe a great debt to the LDS church and its volunteers for this project. It also is available on CD. The LDS main site should give information on how to purchase this. The CD also should be available at your local LDS Family History Center and you may use their computers to search its contents.

Okay, you guys. Now, get out there and browse that 1880 census. I guarantee you'll have fun and come up with some stuff you never expected to find.

Don't forget to send your sketches and stories on south side folks for our "homemade" south side heritage book. I'm really looking forward to doing that.

Send stories to The Citizen, Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214; E-mail jkilgore@thecitizennews.com or jodiek444@aol.com.

Until next week, happy hunting!

(Judy regrets that time does not permit her to do personal research for others. She will willingly share research information on her own family lines, including collateral and allied lines.)