There can be much gnashing of teeth about what spelling is “correct.” It is important to remember that 20th and 21st century concerns over spellings and names matching exactly were not a concern in an earlier time. In some places they were not even a concern in the early 20th century. Documents should be transcribed as they are written, even if the name is not spelled “right.” If a census spells great-grandma’s name as “Fany,” that’s how I transcribe the document for my records. Because that is what it said. If my great-grandma’s birth certificate spells her name clearly as “Francis,” then that is what I transcribe the record as. I don’t change it. If great-grandma herself always signed it as Fannie and that’s what most of her […]
When was the last time you reviewed your genealogical information? It may be that: you’ve made a mistake somewhere, a new database has become available, you’ve got new information that’s not been compared to what you already had, etc. I recently reviewed my ancestor table on my other site. In correcting an error I discovered new leads to follow. Genealogy Tip of the Day is proudly sponsored by GenealogyBank. Try their “GenealogyBank Search” and see what discoveries you make.
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