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From: Charles Sullivan< >
Subject: Re: Meaning of Mm and Imp in census
Date: Sun, 01 Feb 1998 18:24:53 -0500

This is admittedly a stretch:

The currently recognized abbreviation for Madame is Mme but the census
taker might well have written just Mm.

"Imp" could possibly be from the Latin "Imperator" in the sense Leader or
Commander of the younger children, if this is indeed something like a small
private school.

"Imp" not as an abbreviation also has an old meaning of "Child", often a
royal child; see the O.E.D. on this.

Another possibility is that "Imp" is an abbreviation of some obscure
female name, just as "Eliz" is an abbreviation for Elizabeth. See if you
can locate a copy of the "Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names"
to check for possibilities.

The argument that this is a school is somewhat flawed by the fact that
Alonzo Cox would appear to be attending school elsewhere.

Regards,
Charles Sullivan

wrote:
>>From Census taken August 2, 1850 in NYC, 17th Ward, page 231:
>
>Can anyone tell me what "Mm" and "Imp" refer to in this excerpt from census?
>Does this look like a school? Or a hospital? All thoughts welcome. Thanks.
>
>Mm Sarah McClure, age 50
>Imp Eliz McClure, age 17
>Alonzo Cox, age 10, school
>Graham Ackerman, age 8
>William Ackerman, age 12
>Hester Ackerman, age 10
>Margaret Cunningham, age 2
>June Swallow, age 30
>Mm Phoebe Combs, age 50
>all born NY
>
>
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• Re: Meaning of Mm and Imp in census by Charles Sullivan< >