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Archiver > TMG > 2011-01 > 1294847639


From: DE Neilley <>
Subject: Re: [TMG] "Conclusions"
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2011 08:53:59 -0700
References: <005FE245010C0A0E372E00500A@Judy-PC> <2011112102554.663082@Terry>
In-Reply-To: <2011112102554.663082@Terry>


Terry,
The original point of the comment that led to this is that the
enumerator often used an abbreviation for names, which are not
actually used in speech; Jas for James Chas for Charles, Tho's for
Thomas, etc. The transcription of the manuscript records is absolutely
accurate, just not a "real" name. But if you search for James, you
won't necessarily find the record, depending on how the transcription
company cross-referenced it. That's why some of us choose to enter it
in our Census Memo as "he was recorded as Jas Ballagh".

This is also applicable to things such as Border crossings. Janet
Reakes, who was the only LDS accredited research teacher in Australia
for at least a time, often spoke of the trouble she had finding her
ancestress, Ellen Ayre, who migrated from England to Australia. The
customs person heard her accent as saying Helen Haire and recorded her
as such. Are you saying that we should "correct" the transcription of
his records? I would record that her name was put down as such by the
Customs officer, because it might help me to find further records
about her that I might not think to look for.

And of course, it brings up the old joke about the Chinese man who
ended up offically called Ollie Olsen when he came into the USA,
because he was standing behind a Swede, and when the Customs man asked
his name, he said "Sam Ting".

Doreen Neilley

On Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 8:25 AM, Terry Reigel <> wrote:
>
> Judy Madnick wrote:
>
> > I include in a memo the name as it appears in the
> > transcription so that the reader knows what spelling to
> > use if he or she wishes to search for it (and so that *I
> > * can remember the transcribed spelling!!) ...
>
> But if you correct the transcription on Ancestry neither you nor anyone else has to search for the erroneous one again.
>
> Terry Reigel
>
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“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when
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Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

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