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 to whom the article was referring.
They weren’t worried about us 150 years later.
But seriously ask yourself “how could that name have been abbreviated” and include that rendition in your searches.
And don’t forget initial only searches as well.
2 Responses
I’m sorry to say that it isn’t strictly newspapers who use initials or abbreviations of a first name. I have very recently run into it on vital records from Ireland. Edw or Wm, or others hard to distinguish. I have learned over the years that Jno is short for John. Why do this on a vital record, I have to wonder. Another one is Patk. Lots of gentlemen by that name on the Emerald Island. I’m beginning to rue my own DNA.
Of course it’s not only newspapers. Anywhere a name is written it can be abbreviated or shortened unfortunately.