Dedicated Cemetery Research
Locating information about past researchers can be tricky. I found this Web site which gives me a little information about Mr. Hale. New Horizon's Genealogy seems to be responsible for the content and I did find a blog by them with his name and an explanation of the Hale numbering system.
Since the source of this information is not given, I can only speculate about the WPA project and Mr. Hale. I do know that monies was allocated for historical research during this "put people to work" government project during the Great Depression. It is important to note that his research was done in the years 1932-1935 because that may have been the last time some of these gravestones in Connecticut were readable.
The database at Ancestry.com lists an index and 59 volumes for the headstones plus and index and 68 volumes for the newspaper notices. Information gathered includes the name, the death date, the age at death, the cemetery where buried and the place of death.
Death records are the least reliable. If you have even been responsible to giving information burdened by grief and worry as I have you can understand how hard even a rational person (holding information on a previously typed piece of paper) can be under pressure.
Just think about people who are hungry, worried about their future and possibly lacking in experience in the graveyard participating in such a project. After they wrote down what they saw then it was transcribed onto index cards and transcribed again. Too much copying!
I think about this everytime I transcribe a gravestone. It is a miracle any are correct! Next Tuesday's post is the perfect example.
The database at Ancestry.com lists an index and 59 volumes for the headstones plus and index and 68 volumes for the newspaper notices. Information gathered includes the name, the death date, the age at death, the cemetery where buried and the place of death.
Death records are the least reliable. If you have even been responsible to giving information burdened by grief and worry as I have you can understand how hard even a rational person (holding information on a previously typed piece of paper) can be under pressure.
Just think about people who are hungry, worried about their future and possibly lacking in experience in the graveyard participating in such a project. After they wrote down what they saw then it was transcribed onto index cards and transcribed again. Too much copying!
I think about this everytime I transcribe a gravestone. It is a miracle any are correct! Next Tuesday's post is the perfect example.
1 comment:
Hi Midge, Yes, mistakes in transcription are made on occasion. I do know that the WPA Iowa transcription for an ancestor of mine is incorrect in that 1804 became 1840. It happens. Excellent post today as usual!
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