Searches in the Baldwin County AL 1860 census book do not work. I got “no matches” on very common names that I knew were there from the US census. I finally got some returns by just searching on the first name “john.” That got me into the book so that I could look at its index. I could then see that the images are very fuzzy typescript, and apparently the computer search can’t read them. In cases like this it would help to have a link directly to the book’s index, as a search will not give accurate results.
To find the index to the Baldwin County AL 1860 Census book, click on the link provided in the article. You should see a box containing information about the book. Near the bottom of the box is a link to the index. Click on the link and you’re there!
Thanks, Steve! You are right, and direct links to indexes are on the other local history sources, too, now that I look for them. The lesson for me is that it pays to look at the whole page, not just the search boxes. Sometimes the thing we want is right there.
Searches in the Baldwin County AL 1860 census book do not work. I got “no matches” on very common names that I knew were there from the US census. I finally got some returns by just searching on the first name “john.” That got me into the book so that I could look at its index. I could then see that the images are very fuzzy typescript, and apparently the computer search can’t read them. In cases like this it would help to have a link directly to the book’s index, as a search will not give accurate results.
To find the index to the Baldwin County AL 1860 Census book, click on the link provided in the article. You should see a box containing information about the book. Near the bottom of the box is a link to the index. Click on the link and you’re there!
Thanks, Steve! You are right, and direct links to indexes are on the other local history sources, too, now that I look for them. The lesson for me is that it pays to look at the whole page, not just the search boxes. Sometimes the thing we want is right there.