Hi Tony & Geoff,
I see that Geoff seems to have agreed that it is the location at the time of 
the event that is the crucial thing. The fact that it may not exist today is 
somewhat irrelevant; unless you want to visit each location! I agree with Geoff 
that cross referencing the current situation regarding the location in the 
person's event notes is possibly the safest way, of course a note could also be 
put in the location notes. This does also mean that editing of each person's 
event notes would be necessary which is what I think you wanted to avoid.
It's all down to personal preferences and what works for you, this also goes 
for pdf's and image files regardless of type.

As far as your granduncle and his wife goes it sounds like the fact that his 
granddaughter said that they were childhood sweethearts is probably just a 
family story but further research is needed just to be sure you do have the 
correct couple. It also could be that they moved to the same location when they 
were quite young and so could have been thought of as 'childhood sweethearts'.
People did move around a lot more than some realise, I have a couple who were 
born and married in Kent, England in the early 1800's then had children, 
sometime alternately, as far apart as Kent and Yorkshire, for those not 
familiar with the UK that's about 230 miles each way, it was almost like they 
'commuted' just to have the kids!

Regards,
 Geoff
---------------------------------------------
-----Original Message-----
From: Geoff Rasmussen [mailto:ge...@legacyusers.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2011 12:39 AM
To: LegacyUserGroup@LegacyUsers.com
Subject: RE: [LegacyUG] Locations

Hey Tony,

I wish people would disagree with me more often - we all can learn from each 
other.

However, understanding the location at the time of the event is crucial to 
research success. Woodstock, Connecticut has always had the same 
latitude/longitude. Today it resides in Windham County. If you look for records 
in Woodstock, Windham County for an ancestor that lived in Woodstock in 1720, 
you won't find what you are looking for because at that time it resided in 
Suffolk County, Massachusetts. If I were to record the person's birth as 1720 
in Woodstock, Windham County, Connecticut, it would be false - the place simply 
did not exist then. My recommendation then is to record the location as it 
existed at the time of the event AND in the event's notes, record the name of 
the place as it exists today to cross-reference each other.

Good luck,

Geoff

-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Rolfe [mailto:geneal...@gillandtony.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2011 5:10 PM
To: LegacyUserGroup@LegacyUsers.com
Subject: [LegacyUG] Locations

Paula wants me to change the thread title, so here goes.

Hi, Geoff

I have to disagree with your statement that "it's the location at the time of 
the event that is important not the location as it is [or isn't] now."

Surely the whole point is that these two locations are the same location.  The 
names may have changed, the old location may now be in the middle of a 
motorway, under a reservoir or have fallen off a crumbling cliff into the 
ocean.  However, where it was is where it is.
The latitude and longitude are still there.

Researching people is also about researching locations.  Where they lived is 
important.  Where they lived often determined how they lived.
Sometimes reaearching the locations highlights problems.  I have a grand uncle 
and his wife who moved to Canada.  His granddaughter contacted me and told me 
that he told he that "he married his childhood sweetheart".
  Fine, until you include location details.  She was born and lived about 25 
miles South of the wide part of the Thames Estuary.  He was born and lived 
about the same distance North.  There is no obvious way from one place to the 
other in a time when travel wan't as easy as it is today.

My research shows that they didn't meet until they both moved to a third 
location.  So what is wrong?  Something doesn't add up.  Is the childhood 
sweetheart just a family story?  Do I have the wrong wife?
The wrong grand uncle? Did they both travel to the coast and meet on holiday? 
Without knowing the locations, I wouldn't know there was an issue.  It's on my 
to-do list.

Why do I prefer jpegs over PDF's?  Partly because I don't like any of the PDF 
readers and I can't afford (or be bothered) to buy a PDF editor.
  Partly because I can use photoshop to make poor-quality jpeg images more 
readable. Nothing really profound.  Just a personal preference.

Cheers

Tony





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