Census Index, 1870: Madison County, GA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Rick Elliott Rick.Elliott@nsc.com ************************************************************* USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net Copyright © 1999 by Rick Elliott. This copy contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives. ******************************************************************** To facilitate researchers' use of the 1870 Madison County, Georgia census images we are pleased to present the following index. The index columns are comprised of the census year, individual's last and first names (and initials, if any), age in years (or months if followed by "M"), image number on which the full record can be found, Soundex code, and First initial + Soundex. The exact page in the original census can be found by doubling the image number, then subtracting one if the image number ends in "A." If the researcher is not familiar with the Soundex code we suggest they take a few minutes to search the Web using keyword "SOUNDEX." The following site provides a good explanation: In brief, Soundex is a four-digit code (a letter followed by three numerals) used to group similar-sounding names with variant spellings. Thus the surnames "Elliott," "Eliott," "Elliot," and "Eliot" all would have the same Soundex code. Once you know the Soundex code of the individual's surname you can you can use your browser's "Find" to locate all persons with similar names. "First Initial + Soundex" is a further refinement of a Soundex search in which the first letter of the person's Christian name is added to the Soundex code. If, for instance, you wanted to locate a "J. Lang" in the index you would do a "Find" for "JL520" which would yield information on "Joseph B. Lang" (two of them), "Jane Long," "James S. Long," "John D. Long" and "John Long." If the surname is very common, First initial + Soundex can reduce search time considerably. As with most hand-written documents, the author's-- the census enumerator's in this case-- writing can be very difficult to decipher. We have preserved the original spelling as best we could interpret it. In 1870 there were two instances where no name or age were recorded because those columns were not entered on the original document. We assume these individuals existed since they made up part of the totals at the bottom of the pages but further details, as they say, have been lost to history. A large ink blot on one of the pages also obliterated some or all data for several individuals. On behalf of all of us who collaborated on this task, we hope you find the 1870 Madison County, Georgia index to be of use and wish you good luck in your research. Rick Elliott- RickElliott@nsc.com Mary Love Berryman- marylove@tyler.net Michael M. Black- mblack@surfsouth.com Stephanie Bradley- SBRAD1249@aol.com Sheila Casper- casperfamily@mosquitonet.com Trisha Finn- TriFinn@aol.com Rita Hand- GAATLANTA@aol.com Jerry Smith- denjer@cdh.net