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Archiver > ROOTSMAGIC-USERS > 2007-03 > 1173218973


From: "Wayne Jones" <>
Subject: Re: [RMagic] Geographical entries
Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2007 12:09:33 -1000
References: <200703060434.l264YIaI023712@mail.rootsweb.com><MFEFKPBOGKDGJNBDOCIGKELLELAA.delins1@earthlink.net>
In-Reply-To: <MFEFKPBOGKDGJNBDOCIGKELLELAA.delins1@earthlink.net>


While I use the spelled out names exclusively, if done right, the use of
commas is also perfectly clear. The proper format (as I have been told) is
smallest to largest, separated by commas -- eg: city, county, state so --
in your case, if it were Brown, ,Texas, it would be the city of Brown,
unknown county, Texas. If it were , Brown, Texas, it would be unknown city,
Brown county, Texas. Note that tehre is a comma before the Brown in Brown
County, and an extra comma between Brown and texas in the City use.




Aloha
Wayne, NH6K

-----Original Message-----
From:
[mailto:] On Behalf Of delins1
Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2007 10:59 AM
To:
Subject: Re: [RMagic] Geographical entries

George, you idea about using commas would work well except what happens when
one does not know with certainty if Dallas, Texas means Dallas, Dallas Co.,
TX or simply Dallas Co., TX or if Ector, TX means Ector Co., TX or Ector,
Fannin Co., TX or if Victoria, TX means Victoria, Victoria Co., TX or
Victoria, Limestone Co., TX of if Fannin, TX means Fannin County, TX or
Fannin, Goliad Co., TX. In most states (America) there is a town that
shares a "common" name with a county and the two quite commonly are in
different parts of the state. Failure to type in the word "county" can
cause an extreme amount of confusion.

Then there is this problem. If you received a report that read Brown, TX
would you know with certainty that it meant Brown Co., TX vs Brown, Martin
Co., TX. Another location issue is multiple towns in the same state with
the same name. I recently received information that said Brownwood, TX. In
present day Texas there are three towns in three different parts of the
state called Brownwood, Texas. There is Brownwood, Harris Co., TX;
Brownwood, Orange Co., TX; and Brownwood, Brown Co., TX. I expended several
hours calling relatives of the deceased to find out where this person may
have lived. Amazingly, the individual in question had lived in all three
Texas towns named Brownwood and he had buried a member of his family in each
of those towns.

Unless the word county is typed in it is easy to think that a child buried
in Brown Co., TX was buried in the same location as its sibling buried in
the Brown, Martin Co., TX or that a child buried in Victoria, Victoria Co.,
TX was buried in the same place as its sibling buried in Victoria, Limestone
Co., TX.

For clarification purposes it is worth the time and paper it takes to type
in the word "County". Why waste other peoples time and effort trying to
figure out if you (the researcher) knew the difference between the town and
county of same or similar names in a particular American state. If someone
sends me a report showing Ector, TX. I never know, with certainty, if they
mean Ector Co., TX or Ector, Fannin Co., TX.


Ruth


-----Original Message-----
From:
[mailto:]On Behalf Of George W.
Durman
Sent: Monday, March 05, 2007 11:14 PM
To:
Subject: Re: [RMagic] People without a Surname


Hello Sue,

Not a bad idea; however, since the standard for places has always been City,
County, ST, and to save space, most genealogists have always used a format
where an unknown in the place is just left blank. Examples:

Sweetwater, Monroe, TN
Sweetwater, , TN
, Monroe, TN
, , TN

If everyone would use the format with the two commas, then when anyone sees
a place such as above, he/she would know what is missing/unknown.
Spaces/question marks/"unknown"
are not necessary. The blanks before or after the commas are self
explanatory.

I see lots of people who put "Co." after the county name, but if the above
format is used, which it should be, "Co." is not necessary. Everyone should
know that first is the city, followed by a comma, then the county, followed
by a comma, then the state.

Sarge

At 05-03-07 06:50 PM Monday, B. Sue Foy wrote:
*********START OF ORIGINAL MESSAGE TEXT*********

>Listers: I use underlined spaces (8 or whatever you wish) to indicate
>any kind of unknown entity. I missing surname would be ________
>(Smith) Anne.
>
>A missing town would be ________, county, state. A missing county
>would be town, ________, state
>
>This easily shows missing information.
>
>Sue
>
>
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