Soundex is a system of coding names for the census based on sound rather than alphabetical spelling. A variation called American Soundex was used in the 1930s for a retrospective analysis of the US censuses from 1890 through 1920. To save time, a free Soundex converter is available at rootsweb.ancestry.com.

When you're working with census records, be sure to look at 10 families before and 10 families after the family you are researching. These folks are most likely the friends (and family) of your ancestor. They lived in community and they often moved as a group.

Primary evidence is personal testimony or a record created shortly after an event by a person with personal knowledge of the facts. Secondary evidence is compiled from other sources written from memory long after the event has occurred.