Missouri obituaries - daughters' names
I am reviewing a batch of Missouri obituaries https://www.familysearch.org/indexing/batch/2a621360-2f50-4523-8378-2e3352c3cd09.
In the first obituary the daughters of the deceased are listed by first name only. Then later in the same obituary, they are listed as Mrs. (Husband's Name). There is no way I can be sure which daughter goes with which husband, so what do I do? Do I index the daughters twice using first name only in one entry and Mrs (Husband's Name) in the second entry? Or do I pick one or the other of the name options? I thought about indexing the daughters by first names and then the husband's name as a son-in-law so that everything would be indexed, but that goes against the directions for indexing a name like "Mrs. J. E. Cresop" as just the woman.
As an added complication, immediately after the list of daughter's first names it says "The eldest, Mrs. Elzie Mitchell, passed away in 1926..." The indexer assumed that the daughters were listed in birth order and indexed Thelma's last name as Mitchell. They left the other two daughters surnames blank and did not index them by Mrs. (husband's name). I'm almost certain I shouldn't assume the first daughter listed was the eldest without any other evidence, because we "DON'T ASSUME". But I'm not sure how to handle the two name options for the daughters.
I'd appreciate clarification on how to handle this situation.
Teresa Shippy
Best Answer
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That's quite a handful on the first obituary!
The daughter's names cannot be connected, so there will have to be two entries. There are no son-in-laws mentioned in this obituary, except for Hattie's husband, Marck who should be indexed after Image 14. (Even Hattie has to have two listings because you can't assume).
Just a couple of other things I noticed which might help you with indexing this complicated obit.
Entry 1 - check the spelling: Minnie AUgusta
Entry 3 - Mr can be used as a prefix since he is referred to as Mr later in the obit. I would choose the relationship Husband. Deceased spouse works well when someone is married more than once and loses one to death (kind of like divorced spouse works for those first marriages). Minnie never remarried.
Watch out for the various mentions of William Lee or Bill or Wm London. Even though his grandparents adopted him, he is mentioned with the relationship grandson. The indexer missed the name variations and the relationship status.
The indexer has used deceased as a relationship term ALOT. I don't even know why deceased is in the drop-down list - it isn't a relationship.
Have fun with this one!
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Answers
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My advice would be to do the most complete name of whatever you have. If you know which spouse goes with which daughter then add it, if not just the first name of each daughter with a blank for last name, unless it is specifically listed. I read all the directions and they indicate the spouses names should only be included with the daughter if it specifically says so. Otherwise leave the names off.
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