I need to start keeping a list.

I wasted fifteen minutes trying to search the 1870 census at FamilySearch by counties and towns until I remembered:

the 1870 census at FamilySearch does not include in the searchable databaseany geographic information smaller than the state

That precludes me from searching by counties, townships, etc.  That inflates my search results with hits from the greater Chicago area–on the other side of the state from where my people live.

FamilySearch is free. I’m not being hypercritical. Just a reminder that not every database may work in the same way.

And that I need to start keeping a list of databases I use and idiosyncrasies with those databases.