Greetings, all.

Today I have found myself finding every brickwall that is possible to find. One would hardly think I had the luck I did a few weeks ago. I feel like ranting and only wish I could speak to someone more knowledgeable than I am about the search for family history. My information is disorganized. My lack of leads is distressing. I somehow do not have the vocabulary to get the kind of help I am seeking for working this project.
Basically, I started looking at old census data in Miami County, Ohio, today. Gruesome work if anyone else has ever tried to do it. The handwriting problem is only compounded by a lack of literacy on the part of the census takers. Then, the lady at the historical society tells me that my only real hope with the time period I am searching (1800s overall) for finding birth records is to find a "Holy Grail" such as a family Bible.
I wish I could layout my findings for someone as to let them know what I know. I am not sure what software if there is any would be good to use. Cheap or free would be great, but I doubt that is the case.
Presently, I am researching ancestors who were born near Troy or in Miami County, Ohio, prior to the 1908 deadline requiring birth certificates. I have found my paternal great-grandfather (Samuel Alfred UPTEGRAFT) and now three of his siblings (Joseph, Delta, and Frank). His parents were William (almost exclusively Wm.) S. UPTEGRAFT and Elizabeth (HUGHES) UPTEGRAFT. I also found William's parents to be Alfred UPTEGRAFT and Mary (MYERS) UPTEGRAFT. Samuel was born in 1875 and William in 1856. I cannot find anything on Alfred or Mary, however.
If anyone would like to e-mail me privately as to offer advise, help, or knowledge, my mailing addy does work. I am not a particularly dense person, but I am lacking in information. My real question is: Where do you turn when the sources run dry?