Keep in mind that the names are unindexed and are organized by township. Also keep in mind that the townships might not be listed in any particular order. The ones I used for Hancock County were not in alphabetical order or in geographic order. Using the images is very much like the microfilm, only much better. The zoom and magnification tools make the images much easier to see---easier than using microfilm.
I would suggest before using any of the censuses online that the researcher have a map of the county and the townships within the county. A google search for "blahblah county map" should bring up the desired result or the USGenWeb page for the county may have a link to a county map as well.
The image shows two of my third great-grandfathers James Rampley an
d William Newman living as neighbors in Walker Township, Hancock County, Illinois in 1865. They were not in-laws yet...James' son Riley would not marry William's daughter Nancy until a few years after his 1865 return home from the Civil War.The enumerations for James raised a few questions which we'll discuss in a future post.
The headings for the 1865 census can be viewed clearly in this transcription from Hamilton County.
