This tip originally ran in 2015.
The middle entry on this page of 1838 baptisms from Aurich, Germany contains the entry for my ancestor.
The fourth column contains the names of the sponsors. When I was trying to analyze the entry for my relative I thought the symbol in the middle red circle on the image were a part of the entry.
Then I looked at the other two entries on the image I made and realized that the items in the circle were partially used to number each entry and were not a part of the names of the sponsors.
If I had only copied the entry for my ancestor and not other entries on the same page, I might have missed that.
Don’t copy only the entry of interest on a page like this. Copy other entries on the same page.
You can’t made comparisons if you don’t.
One response
I’ve found having additional entries to look at can also be helpful in deciphering handwriting. Comparing letter shapes in several entries can make clearer what exactly is being written. I’ve also found sponsors popping up in several entries of the same time period which has led to discovering extended family relationships.