Thanks, Geoff. I would also like to add that had I studied the history of an area early on I would not have gone on several wild goose chases. My people near early Pittsburgh in what is now Allegheny County were actually in a county in Virginia. Records from that era are still kept in Virginia - same with a couple of places in New York. I wasted a great deal of time and effort by searching in the wrong places.
Kay Fordham ----- Original Message ----- From: "Geoff Rasmussen" <ge...@legacyusers.com> To: <LegacyUserGroup@LegacyUsers.com> Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2011 4:39 PM 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 Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyusers.com/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyfamilytree.com/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp Follow Legacy on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and on our blog (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyusers.com/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyfamilytree.com/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp Follow Legacy on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and on our blog (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyusers.com/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyfamilytree.com/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp Follow Legacy on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and on our blog (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
