Posts in April 22, 2025

Wm. Smith, Jas. Rampley, Saml. Neill, Geo. Trautvetter, and Edw. Tinsley attended the annual meeting of the “They Abbreviated My Name Society.” Meeting in a nearby venue were B. Dirks, T. Rampley, H. Sartorius, and F. Goldenstein attending the annual meeting of “Initials are Better.” Your ancestor may never have used an abbreviation for his name or just his initial, but a newspaper reference to him may have. When searching digital newspapers for your ancestor, think of how their name may have been abbreviated and search for that as well. Typesetters, editors, or writers, in an attempt to squeeze the most information in the least amount of space, may have abbreviated your ancestor’s name or just used an initial figuring that most people reading the newspaper would know […]