Making sense of city directory
I am working on indexing for the first time, and have a few questions. It's the City Directory, Batch ID MQR8-C96: https://www.familysearch.org/indexing/batch/9b5edc86-b992-4e7d-afdb-77289ebe5b29
- I read that I am not supposed to index businesses, but some people seem to have an occupation included. Are those considered businesses?
- Why do some lines appear to have a given name only, like line 8 on the top left page: Helen A (wid J B) h 536 E Lindsay? I gather I am supposed to enter Helen in the given name and A in the surname.
- What does the quotation mark " mean at the beginning of some lines?
Thanks a bunch!
Best Answer
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Occupations are not business and occupations are not included in indexing. Occupations were there for the reader to see that Bill Smith works at Smith Bros. or Jane Doe works at Coe's Shoes.
Helen's last name is Webster. The " before each name is shorthand for ditto. Webster will go from Carmel to Percy S, then Ross Wedeberg is your next name and so on.1
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Thank you so much! I understand this now. 😀
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@Tiffany Shorson to explain a little more about line 8 index Surname: Webster Given: Helen A Do not index the part in parentheses (wid J B) as we do not index the widow(er). Also, you need to go back to line 1 and enter <blank> for the Prefix using Ctrl + B or the small black downward triangle on your toolbar. Fill in each line of the Spousal information the same way for all 8 name entries and more as needed to complete the batch. The name Weymann, Wm is the final entry for this batch. Do not spell out abbreviations such as Wm or Jas or Jos etc.
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