As I look for my "city-folk" ancestors, using the address and a combination of historical maps, sites like MapQuest, and the district description from the Images Online project, it is often possible to narrow down the search considerably. First, I plot the address on MapQuest. Then, I pray that the numbering system for the area that I am searching or the name of the street hasn't changed to drastically since the days of my ancestors.

Once I have located the address with MapQuest or a similar site, I look to my collection of historical maps. I slowly zoom out on MapQuest, until I can pick out the area on the historical map.(The MapQuest step does wonders saving on eyestrain! It also gives me an idea about where on the street my ancestors lived.) Once I plot the address on a map, I use the district descriptions in the Census Images Online pages for that county to narrow down my search. I've made a copy of the historical maps for various census years, and am outlining the districts where my ancestors lived for future reference. Some of these maps even include Ward boundaries, which is even more helpful when it comes to browsing the district descriptions. Because of street numbering and name changes over the years, it is not an exact science, but I have found this to work most of the time.

Using Other Indexes
For the years 1790-1830, Ancestry.com is using the AIS Census Indexes currently available on the site to make the images searchable. Eventually all of the years covered by AIS indexes will be connected to images, and indexes for other years are being created to make the entire Images Online collection searchable.

Even without the images being connected to the AIS Indexes, Ancestry.com subscribers with Census subscriptions or the Super Subscription (includes both data and census) can still use the AIS Indexes to locate ancestors. Subscribe Here.

Using Abraham Lincoln as an example, I located a timeline online (see here ) that said he returned to Springfield from Washington, DC in 1849. I did a search of AIS Census indexes at Ancestry.com (check here ) and located three Abraham Lincolns --- one in Hancock Co. (1850), one in Sangamon Co. (1860), and one in Stark Co. (1860). Since Springfield is located in Sangamon County, and the timeline showed him still living in Springfield in 1860, I chose to pursue that entry. (1860, LINCOLN, Abraham, Sangamon County, IL, page 140)

I went to the 1860 Census page, chose Illinois, and then Sangamon County. Since this census is currently only browseable to the county level, I only had one choice from here. I clicked on Unknown Townships. I changed the page number to 140 and clicked on "Go to page." Since the top of that page where the page number would be found was dark, I had to scroll forward a few pages to locate the hand-written page number. Once I located that number, it was easy to find page 140 at image 138 of 821, and there was the entry for the beloved 16th President with his wife, Mary, and sons, Robert, Willie, and Thomas. Very cool!

But why wasn't he showing up in the 1850? I tried again, this time leaving out his given name and using:

Surname: Lincoln
County: Sangamon
State: IL
Year: 1850

This time it worked. There he was on page 120 of the 1850 Census, listed as Abram Lincoln. Since 1850 is also only indexed to the county level, I again had to rely on page number, but this time it was a bit trickier. I located a handwritten number, but it wasn't in a pre-printed field like it was on the 1860, and when I located page 120, he wasn't there. I scrolled through a few pages and noticed a stamped number on every other page. Using this number and knowing that it appeared on every other page, I was able to do some quick calculations and locate him on image 103 of 468. Yeah. I can't wait until my daughter needs to do a school project on Abraham Lincoln.

In addition, indexes like the FamilySearch 1880 U.S. Federal Census National Index, or local indexes created by societies can also help. I wrote an article on locating people in the images using this index back on 11 June.

Addendum to Last Week's Column: Saving With MrSID
Last week I discussed saving images in MrSID format, thus retaining the navigational and zoom features. I received several notes from people who did not have the option available to save in MrSID format. I put the question to Blaine Esplin in Ancestry.com's Quality Assurance Department and he tells me that saving as a MrSID image is only available in the Detail mode.

What's Browse Mode and Detail Mode? If you look at the top of the screen (on the full screen view---it's on the bottom of the little window view you see when you first go to that district or image), you will notice that it says either "Switch to Browse Mode" or "Switch to Detail Mode." The browse mode makes it quicker if you are just breezing through the images, but takes longer to zoom in. Personally I find the Detail Mode preferable. Since most images are not readable without zooming in (at least not to my tired old eyes!), I have to zoom in anyway (sometimes a couple times) and the longer zoom times in browse mode slow me down too much. Now I have one more reason to stay with Detail Mode.

Juliana Smith is the editor of the Ancestry Daily News and author of The Ancestry Family Historian's Address Book. She has written for Ancestry Magazine and Genealogical Computing. Juliana can be reached by e-mail at: mailto:editor@ancestry-inc.com, but regrets that she is unable to assist with personal research.