I don't have access to the 1880 census index. However, the unindexed 1880 U.S.
census for Marion County is available online at no charge at
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/in/marion/census/1880/ The Read-Me file
explains how to use it.
Although it's not possible to search by name, it doesn't take very long to find
someone if you know which township he lived in, if he lived outside of
Indianapolis, or his address and ward number, if he lived in Indianapolis. (You
can request a city directory lookup, which will provide the address, and also
get a ward identification of the address by writing to the Indiana State
Library, Indiana Division, 140 Senate Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46204-2296 or
e-mailing through their web site,
www.statelib.lib.in.us The library charges 25
cents per page for photocopies. Turnaround time is two to three weeks via
snail-mail.) Once you have that information, you can page through the online
census until you find the actual entry you're looking for. It's not as
convenient as using the census index, but it's worth the trouble if you can't
get access to the index.
Linda Johnson