City Directories - Part E. The spouse isn't always listed in ( )!
Please look at the entire entry on the Part E City Directories - Many indexers are not recording the spouse because the spouses name is appearing in different directories in different locations:
Ie;
Stinchfield Jno, lab, r 512 cutler av, Louisa
Stinchfield, Moses, brklyr, r 515 Oakley, Caroline T
In this case, you would index these individuals with their spouse as:
Surname: Stinchfield
Given Name: Jno
Spouses Surname: Stinchfield
Spouses Given Name: Louisa
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Surname: Stinchfield
Given Name: Moses
Spouses Surname: Stinchfield
Spouses Given Name: Caroline T
So, why do I include the Surname as the Spouses Surname?
Because, I read the Project Instructions to the City Directories project that states:
- A spouse's name, if listed, may have been recorded in parentheses after the name of the principal individual. The surname should be indexed for both individuals. If a spouse is listed as deceased by the words "wid" or "widow of," do not index the spouse.
Answers
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This is yet another example of not reading or not completely reading the PI. I've come across an uptick in errors in the Naturalization projects, from name variations, record place to indexing information that is not included in documents like indexing other fields other than the name and date on the Oath of Alligience. If people just read the PI. It only takes a minute or two to read all of them. 😐️
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I used to work for the Family History Library for 25 years and was on various committees that developed fields for indexing. I don't understand why widow spouses are not to be indexed. It's a valuable piece of info whether dead or not. There is a place on the template for spouses. We would have never left that out. After all, most of the people listed on the earlier directories are all dead now anyway. Directories whether on microfilm or hard copy were never restricted for use or photocopy when I worked there.
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