Shortcut to the Ancestry.com United States Federal Census images for 1870, 1880, and 1910 (without needing to know the Enumeration district)

written by Edward Rosenbaum

Ancestry.com has put images of the United States federal census's for 1790-1920 online.  To access this data, you need to know the enumeration district that your ancestors lived in.  

If you do not have this information, you can purchase various census indexes from HeritageQuest or from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  These  indexes will tell you the microfilm roll number, part, page, and sub page to look at.  However, this information will not help you in using the Ancestry.com site.

That is where this program comes in.  By simply filling in the microfilm roll number, part, page, and sub page that the HeritageQuest or Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints software reports, this program will display the Ancestry.com census image in your browser.

This fully functional program is distributed as freeware, along with some trial census 'plug-in' files. The trial census 'plug-in' files will give you access to only some of the available microfilm rolls. Fully functional versions of the census 'plug-in' files, along with additional 'plug-in' files can be purchased by clicking here, or by clicking on the 'Order additional census plug-ins' button at the top of the program.

NOTE: You must have an Ancestry.com subscription in order to use this software and view the census images.

Version 2.3.0 is now available.

NOTE: Currently this program is only available for IBM-compatibles.

Upgrading from a prior version?  If you currently have a version that is older then version 2.0.0, please follow the 'Trying it for a first time" instructons.

1. Download the upgrade to your PC.  Remember the name of the directory that you download this file to.
   
   If you have problems downloading the file, please see I am having problems downloading the program.
   
2. Select "Save this program to disk".  
3. When prompted for a "Save As" location, navigate to where you originally installed the program.  If you did not change any of the default options, this will be "C:\Program Files\1910Census\1910Census.exe".
4. When prompted to replace the existing file, click on the "YES" button.

The latest version of the program...

Version 2.3.0	- Added a minor modification needed for the 1880 New York census
Version 2.2.0	- Added a minor modification needed for the 1870 Pennsylvania census
Version 2.1.1	- Added a minor modification needed for the 1870 Indiana census
Version 2.1.0	- Added modifications necessary for supporting the 1870 New York census
Version 2.0.1	- Added edits for invalid part numbers.
Version 2.0.0	- Added support for census 'plug-in' files, to allow easy updates to future census indexes.

Trying it for the first time?

1. Download the program to your PC.  Remember the name of the directory that you download this file to.
   
   If you have problems downloading the file, please see I am having problems downloading the program.
   
2. When asked for the file name, enter "setup-1910census.exe"
3. In Windows Explorer, click on setup-1910census.exe in the directory that you downloaded the file into.  
4. Follow the on-screen instructions.   By default, the program will install into the directory "c:\program files\1910Census".
5. If you did not change any of the default options, you can run the program at "C:\Program Files\1910Census\1910Census.exe" 

Purchase the program:

This fully functional program is distributed as freeware, along with some trial census 'plug-in' files. The trial census 'plug-in' files will give you access to only some of the available microfilm rolls. Fully functional versions of the census 'plug-in' files, along with additional 'plug-in' files can be purchased by clicking here, or by clicking on the 'Order additional census plug-ins' button at the top of the program.

Purchase additional plug-ins

Once you have installed the Shortcut to the Ancestry.com United States Federal Census images program, you can increase the number of census indexes that it can work with by purchasing additional 'plug-ins'.   To do this,

1. Run the Shortcut to the Ancestry.com United States Federal Census images program
2. Click on "Order Additional Plug-ins", which appears at the top of the program
3. You will be shown a list of the plug-ins that you currently have, and a list of available plug-ins for purchase.  
4. Once you have made your selection, and pressed the ORDER NOW button, you will be told the final cost and be prompted to pay using your credit card and PayPal. 
5. Once your payment has been made, you will be shown a web page with  with instructions and links for downloading your new plug-ins.
6. Exit and re-start the Shortcut to the Ancestry.com United States Federal Census images program, and you will be able to work with these new census indexes.

Click here for a list of available website 'plug-ins'.

FAQ:

• I am getting the error 'No CE Signature Found' when trying to install the program
• I am getting the error 'The file may not be supported by AOL.  AOL will try to open it as a test file if you choose to continue' when trying to install the program
• I am having problems downloading the program
• I cannot see the entire screen.  The right side and bottom are missing.
• I downloaded the files, but do not know what to do with them
• I want to uninstall the program.  How do I do this?
• Is there a MAC version?
• When are new 'plug-ins' made available?
• What is a 'plug-in'?
• Which states are available?
• I still have questions.  What do I do?

Question: I am getting the error 'No CE Signature Found' when trying to install the program

This error is caused when the file download did not complete successfully.  Please download the file again.  If you continue to have problems, look at I am having problems downloading the program.

Question: I am getting the error 'The file may not be supported by AOL.  AOL will try to open it as a test
file if you choose to continue' when trying to install the program

If America Online is your default Web browser, use Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator as your default Web browser.  For information about changing your default Web browser, see the online Help in Internet Explorer or Navigator, or contact AOL for instructions.

Question: I am having problems downloading the program

You may be having problems downloading the file due to its size.  I would suggest that you download and install Netscape's SmartDownload.  

"SmartDownload is a service from Netscape Netcenter designed to assist you with downloading files from the Internet. Key features of SmartDownload are its ability to pause and resume downloads, recover from a dropped Internet connection, and show informative content from Netcenter while downloading."  

Read more about SmartDownload 

Download SmartDownload

If you continue to have problems downloading the file, please contact me, and I will email you the file.

Question: I cannot see the entire screen.  The right side and bottom are missing.

One of two things can cause this problem.

1. Your computer resolution is set to 600x480.  This program requires a minimum resolution of 800x600.  To change the resolution of your monitor, please do the following

1. Minimize any programs that you have running so that you can see your computers desktop.
2. Click on MY COMPUTER
3. Click on CONTROL PANEL
4. Click on DISPLAY
5. Click on the SETTINGS tab
6. Change the resolution to 800x600
7. Click on OK

or

2. Your computer is set to LARGE fonts.  This program requires SMALL fonts.  To change the font size, please do the following

1. Minimize any programs that you have running so that you can see your computers desktop.
2. Click on MY COMPUTER
3. Click on CONTROL PANEL
4. Click on DISPLAY
5. Click on the SETTINGS tab
6. Click in the ADVANCED button
7. Change the FONT SIZE to SMALL
8. Click on OK
9. Click on OK again

Question: I downloaded the files, but do not know what to do with them

1. When you downloaded the file setup-1910census.exe, you indicated where on your computer the file should be saved.  Let us assume the name of this directory is c:\windows\temp.   Using Windows Explorer, go to this directory and run setup-1910census.exe (it might appear as setup-1910census application).  setup-1910census.exe is a self extracting zip file, and will prompt you for where the extracted files should go.  Enter the directory on your computer that the extracted files should go, and press FINISH.
   
2. Once you have run the setup-1910census.exe program, use Windows Explorer and go to the directory that you 'unzipped' the files to.   In this directory you need to run the file setup.exe (it might appear as setup application).  Follow the on-screen instructions to install the program.

Question: I want to uninstall the program.  How do I do this?

1. Using Windows Explorer, delete the "c:\program files\1910Census" folder.

Question: Is there a MAC version?

Unfortunately, there is currently no MAC version available.  

Question: What is a 'plug-in'?

A 'plug-in' is a file that you can download to your computer, and is then used by the Shortcut to the Ancestry.com United States Federal Census images program to know what to do.  The use of 'plug-in' files will allow you to add additional census states and years to this program without having to install any additional software.

Question: When are new 'plug-ins' made available?

Additional census 'plug-ins' are made available from time to time.  If there is a specific HeritageQuest index that you would like added to this program,  please let me know.