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Archiver > HTC-BOSTON > 1998-04 > 0892331187


From: Marge Reid <>
Subject: HTC - FOLLMARs...
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1998 14:46:27 -0700


Hello, Ron!

I'm sending a cc: of this message to the list because I think it may be
of interest to a few folks...

Your "introduction message" to the list (and it was nicely done, too)
mentioned that you were searching for FOLLMARs in Boston in the
1850's...

Well, I checked some Boston City Directories today at the FHC (used
several spelling variations) and came up with a few of 'em!

The first entry was in the 1854 Directory for a Charles FOLMER,
blacksmith, house, Gold, near B

The next entry was in the 1855 Directory, again, Charles FOLMER, same
occupation, address given as 64 Gold

The 1856 entry was the same as the 1855.

The 1857, 1859 and 1860 directories had no entries for Charles FOLMER

THEN I remembered that we have two Roxbury directories - 1855 and 1860!

The 1860 directory contained the following -

FULMER, John - at rubber factory, house 2 Crawshare (?) (that's in ward
3)

FOLMER, Charles - machinist, house Sudbury Place (in ward 2)

Soooo, if indeed the Charles in Boston and the Charles in Roxbury are
YOUR Charles, then maybe you can find more stuff about him and his
family in ROXBURY vital records (and it just happens that I have a film
or two of Roxbury VR's on long-term loan at the FHC!!!!)

Why is this of interest to the List??? Well, if you are NOT finding your
guys in Boston VRs, try checking towns that eventually ended up being
annexed to Boston - like, for example, ROXBURY!

I've now finished two years of Roxbury birth records (1866 and 1867) and
am finding ALL sorts of "Germans", including a few surnames on my OWN
"hit list"!!!

I noticed something else in going through that microfilm - there were
occasionally "changes" to the birth records... a name was re-spelled
(sometimes the given name, sometimes the surname, sometimes the name of
the mother). Wherever this was done, a note was made in the margin of
the record book, with the date the change was made. In almost every
case, the change was made after 1938. It didn't take a rocket scientist
to come up with at least a POSSIBLE reason for these changes to what I
always thought of as a "record etched in stone" - the individuals
involved were applying for a (then) brand-new government program -
Social Security - and they needed a "correct" birth certificate - one
that at least had their last names spelled "correctly".

L8R,

Marge-the-ListOwner ( who is NOT going back to Boston to see if HER
"official birth record" has any mis-spellings...)

--
Marge Reid - email
web site http://www.eskimo.com/~mvreid/

----The 1998 Seattle MARINERS - you gotta LOVE these guys!!! ----

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