Are you using place names to describe where an ancestor was born, died, or was buried, that are not listed in any gazetteer? Make certain that you also include a more reference (eg. GPS coordinates) to assist others in finding the location. “Old names” or colloquial names for locations are fine in your notes and in your records–as long as you explain exactly what you mean.
On a trip to visit my parents, I had to take my brother lunch where he was discing–“on the McNally place, you know past his forty, which is past McGaughey’s and turn south.” Of course those names would be on local plat books and other records, but sometimes those descriptions are only in people’s gray matter–particularly if the families for which a location is named did not own the property referenced by the name.
Don’t make that mistake. Clearly identify locations.
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One response
Oh, when I lived in the South for a few years, that was such a confusing point of reference – “Down the road past the Perkins Farm and then go west to where John Smith grew up.” And you’d get lost and when looking for clarification, find that the Perkins haven’t owned or lived on that farm since 30 years ago…