How to Interpret City Directories
I don't understand for sure what I'm reading. I see some familiar family names but some seem to be listed on different streets?
And there are two different widows, different streets? What's the r stand for? Would someone please help me understand what I'm looking at? Are they all related but live in different places or what's going on?
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This information is from a genealogy guidebook (The Source) by Loretto Dennis Szucs Revised Edition 1997 page 393.
"Whenever you use a directory, however, it is important to refer to the page showing abbreviations used in the alphabetical section of the directory, usually following the name in each entry. Some abbreviations are quite common, such as (h) for home or (r) indicating residence."
I would say that Anna Grudzinski is Frank's widow and mother of Frank Jr, John, and Jos. Antonia Grudzinski is Jos's widow and mother of Anthony. Dorothy Grudzinski may be related to either or both of the above families.
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Thank you very much. So, it lists families, not just those who live in the same residence. Right?
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The City Directory is not the same as a Census Record. The later Census Records indicate the relationship of the residents of the house to the head of the house. In the City Directory some assumptions are made which must be confirmed by finding other records to confirm those assumptions.
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The initial pages of a directory book often give information on how to interpret the information included in it. The image above seems to be from the 1941 Polk's Buffalo City Directory [New York state] which I found at Ancestry here https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/133569055:2469 (membership required? I did not find the same book available at FamilySearch.)
For this book, image 3 of 1444 shows the General Index which indicates that pages 44 and 45 show abbreviations. These pages would likely explain abbreviation such as what the 'r' or 'h' stand for, but unfortunately pages 44 and 45 do not seem to have been included in the filming of the book. (Perhaps a different Polk's Directory may use the same abbreviations and was possibly included in the digitization?)
On image 4 of 1444 are listed the six major departments of the book, including "THE ALPHABETICAL LIST OF NAMES of residents and business and professional concerns is included in page 45 to 1028, on white paper. This is the only record in existence that aims to show the name, marital status, occupation and address of each adult resident of Buffalo and Kenmore, ..." Also, "THE DIRECTORY OF HOUSEHOLDERS ... on pink paper, covers pages 1601 to 1926. ... Features of this section are the designation of tenant-owned homes, the designation of the population of each house, and the designation of homes and places of business having telephones."
The clip shown above is a part of image 357 of 1444 which includes Anna Grudzinski, the widow of Frank [Grudzinski] (address 47 Shepherd). Also listed under the name Grudzinski are Anthony and Antonia (address 205 Peckham), Dorothy J and Veronica (address 911 Fillmore); and (also listed at 47 Shepherd) Frank mach, John lab, Jos mach, and Peter swtchmn. NOTE: Peter and Veronica are not shown in the clip above because they are listed at the top of the next column on the page.
Based on the explanations of the "departments" of the book, I would interpret h47 Shepherd to mean that Anna owns the home at 47 Shephard, and that residing with her (r47 Shepherd) are Frank (occupation: machinist), John (occ: laborer), Jos (maybe Joseph or Josiah, occ: machinist), and Peter (occ: switchman - probably a railroad worker?)
Similarly I would interpret that Antonia owns the home at 205 Peckham, where Anthony (a foreman with Geo W Puls) resides; and Dorothy J (a laundry worker at Sweet Kleen Laundry) resides with homeowner Veronica (widow of Jos) at 911 Fillmore Ave.
Image 1117 of 1444 explains how to read and interpret the Directory of Householders. It is explains that a bell symbol is used to indicate whether a home has a telephone, and another symbol indicates that the information received during the canvass may not be correct or reliable. There is also a "figure" which "denotes the number of persons living at that address." [With somewhat limited experience myself, I wonder whether this number truly indicates the number of persons of whatever age, or is actually only the number of "adult" persons living at that address.]
Image 1383 of 1444 shows the listing for 47 Shepherd. Mrs. Anna Grudzinski is shown as the homeowner. There is neither a bell symbol [no telephone], nor indication that the information may be unreliable. The figure 5 indicates that 5 persons live at the address. Therefore, we have accounted for all of the people: Anna, Frank, John, Jos, and Peter Grudzinski - perhaps Anna and 4 adult sons, or possibly brothers or other relatives of her deceased husband Frank.
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