Lesson #2: Look at the original records for clarification

Ancestry lets me look at all the census record images (Familysearch has some images, but really not a lot).  I used this feature just today when I was searching for records on John Halston, which is the spelling that was transcribed.  I couldn't find a thing for John Halston.  Finally I looked at the census record itself...and found the problem.  John's real last name is Hulston - it had just been transcribed incorrectly.  A search for Hulston brought up all his records!