Reading records in old script or a foreign language can be difficult. Reading just the item of interest is never advised. Looking at entries on the same page and on adjacent pages can give you insight into how the entries are typically structured. They can also help you in reading the entry in which you are really interested. Other entries may be more legible, have more words you can initially figure out, etc. Keep track of those words and names and then use them to help you with the item of interest. This can be a particularly good technique if one priest with awful handwriting wrote entries for thirty years–during which your relatives reproduced, married, and died.
Don’t forget to save those old envelopes. Sometimes the addresses can be just as helpful as anything else. This is especially true if the letter does not contain any addresses or does not include complete names.
Recent Comments