The original directions to the enumerators (census takers) instructed them to write the surname (family name) first and once only. Then, if the next name that followed had the same surname, they were to draw a solid line in place of the surname.

In many cases enumerators appear to have gotten "carried away" with drawing these lines--it is not uncommon to see a surname "crossed out". We made no judgements about whether the surname should or should not have appeared -- we transcribed the surname in all cases. It is up to each researcher to evaluate the information given for household members shown in the census.

Names abbreviated on the census are abbreviated in the transcription.
Names misspelled on the census are misspelled in the transcription.

The following letters are easily confused. It is advisable to substitute these letters with each other when trying to locate a person, especially when using a web site "search box". It may also be helpful to double or undouble some consonants like ss, mm, and nn.

Lower case:
e and i; a and o; u, m, n, and combinations thereof; e and c; t and l, cl and d, terminal r and s.

Upper case:
I, and J; J and Y; L and S; K and R; P and B; T and F; H and K

If a volunteer was about 95% sure a surname was spelled differently than on the census, the volunteer could ADD the different spelling in [square brackets] to signal the name was an addition. If the surname was difficult to read, an alternate spelling of the surname was added in [square brackets].Most often additions were made by volunteers who lived in the area they transcribed and were familiar with the families.

Some East St. Louis neighborhoods presented more of a challenge than usual. In several cases Huber's East St. Louis Directory, 1928 was used to identify families whose surnames were obviously spelled phonetically. These names were added in [square brackets] as well and Huber's page is cited.

We transcribed the SHEET numbers located in the upper right hand corner of each page. We kept the same sequence and transcribed it exactly as shown on the film/CD/online images. If census pages were filmed or numbered out of order, *and* the transcriber noticed it, then a notation was added about the discrepancy.

Each census page also had a machine-stamped number in the upper right hand corner of the page. We *did not* transcribe this number.

At the beginning of each new page we transribed the city/village/precinct/township/institution name, and Ward (if applicable), **as it is written on the census sheet itself.**

We ignored the apostrophe or space in names like McDonald, O'Brien, and Van Horn, and transcribed them as McDonald, OBrien, and VanHorn.

One or more illegible, confusing letters or numbers are represented by one [?]. So, Fr[?]der could stand for Frader or Friedlander.

Modifiers such as Jr., and Sr., follow the given name.

Religious nuns or sisters were not standardized (an oversight on my part). However, the alphabetical list planned of the entire census will standardize their names. This will be produced and posted to the web site when all districts have been transcribed.