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Archiver > PAFAYETT > 1999-04 > 0923165291


From: Peg Duffy <>
Subject: City directories
Date: Sat, 03 Apr 1999 13:48:11 -0500


I have found the directories to be of tremendous help for those
1880-1900 years. You know that the family business went bankrupt and you
can track the impending gloom as you see the family moving from an
uposcale address to a less prestigious location. The adult child, last
of the offspring and 15 years old in 1880, might be found through the
directory. I was trying to determine whether the person in a photograph
was child A or child B. In checking the address on the photo against the
business addresses in the city directory over a range of years, I was
able to determine the approximate year of the photo and conclude which
great-uncle was pictured. Amazing how business establishments moved and
merged even back then! Peg

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