The problem with programs and websites that pre-fill in data is that it’s easy for the user to not really pay attention to what is going on. I’m working on sorting out individuals with the name of Anson Butler who lived in several counties in New York and Michigan.
This includes Genesee County, New York and Genesee County, Michigan. If I’m not careful on data entry, I could easily get the locations incorrect.
Take a second or a third look when entering in places, particularly if they have the same or very similar names.
I’m just glad they also didn’t spend time in Geneseo, Illinois.
4 Responses
There is a Geneseo in New York too, as well as in Iowa & Minnesota & other places!! Don’t get tripped up using the FamilySearch Place Standardization tool!
The new Place Research tool at https://familysearch.org/int-std-ui-research/ can be useful in sorting out the possibilities.
Great research tip–Place Name Research tool. Thanks.
It’s even worse than that. There is a Genesee County in New York, a Town of Genesee in Alleghany County, and a Town of Geneseo in Livingston County. Which matters in New York because vital records are kept at the town level. Sometimes, but not always, they were sent on to the county level.
I have seen the same kind of repetition in other states, as well as finding the same place names in lots of different states.
I agree. I was looking for a great aunt in Franklin County, Kansas. Reading a Franklin County Vital Statistic book I got excited. The aunts full name, date, and information I was looking for. When I started looking for the full source information, imagine my surprise when it turned out to be Ohio. That taught me to be more careful. Also gave me my soapbox. “Please include the “county and state” in the title and name of everything!”