US, Wisconsin—Pre-1907 Death Records, 1860–1907

DanSPugmire

In the mother of deceased field, the pop up instruction says "Index names in the maiden name field only if the record specifically refers to them as maiden or birth names."

Last names of the mother on many of the records appear to be maiden names but the record does not indicate that specifically. Do I assume them to be maiden names when different from the fathers surname? Or do I mark the field blank?

Susan Ann Mullen

Do you have a Shared batch code for that? We can then look at the batch and help you better.

https://www.familysearch.org/help/helpcenter/article/how-do-i-share-an-indexing-batch-with-someone

1. Just above the toolbar, click Help.
2. On the drop-down menu, click Share Batch.
3. The Share Batch window opens, giving you two options:
   • Copy the batch link, and paste it in an email to the helper or post it on the Share Batch, Etc. page on Facebook. The helper can click the link and go directly to the batch.
   • Share the batch code so the helper can enter it in the web indexing tool and open the batch.

• A second way to find the batch code is by clicking Batch, then About Batch. The Batch ID is the same as the code.

Susan Ann Mullen

Thanks for the Shared batch code!

According to this we do not index the surname as a maiden name unless it specifically states it is a maiden name. Since we do not see that in this batch we would mark it blank.

• In the Project Instructions, What to Look for while Reviewing, bullet point 3, we read: "The mother's maiden name will probably be marked blank for most of this project. Do not assume that the phrase "previous to marriage" refers to the mother's maiden name. Index the mother's maiden name only if the record refers to it as a maiden name or birth name, or if it is written in parentheses."

Thank you for asking and hope this helps!

DanSPugmire

https://www.familysearch.org/indexing/batch/c43250ee-ffe5-4275-81bc-e53a9ed6fd97

M3HT-48N