Howard: We have been spending the Winter in Florida in our motorhome. We have made friends (for the past couple of years) with a couple from Ontario (just out of Toronto), Neil and Ann McCollum. I don't suppose they are relatives? Nice folks! The best to you-----Felicia Gourdin ----- Original Message ----- From: "Howard & Patty Curran" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, March 23, 2003 9:27 AM Subject: RE: [HUNT-L] Trouble with Numbers > Numbers are not the only thing to be skeptical about. I have an ancestor > that was born in Ireland, Scotland or Canada - depending on which census > you believe. Be wary of spelling, too. Many of us have been caught in > the "My family always spelled it this way" trap. Many of our ancestors > could not read or write, and depended on others to write their names > correctly phonetically. One of my ancestors had her name spelled two > different ways, at the same church, in one day, and a third way a year > later. I know HUNT is hard to misspell, but every time one of them gets > married, it brings another name into this madness we call genealogy. > > Only a Genealogist regards a step backwards, as progress. > > Howard Hunt Curran Oviedo, FL > [email protected] > Researching: > CURRAN - Vermont, New York >> Ireland > McCOLLUM - Vermont >> Canada >> Scotland > HUNT - North Carolina > STITT - Indiana >> Ireland > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Thielmann [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Friday, March 21, 2003 10:51 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [HUNT-L] Trouble with Numbers > > > Be careful what you accept as fact. I have always been reluctant to > accept information at face value and now I am sure that my natural > skepticism is spot on. Even when dealing with "official" records, there > is still a human element and a margin of error that must be considered. > This is not a criticism of contentious enumerators and transcribers who > have a difficult task and make every attempt to be accurate. > > However, through the resident, enumerator and transcriber there is the > risk of misunderstanding, difficulty with handwriting, an enumerator > taking a shortcut or a resident intentionally misinforming the > enumerator. Initial errors would be continued and additional errors > could be added to an already dubious report. > > My most frustrating example concerns the birthdate of my > great-grandfather, Simeon Hunt: > > 1850 Census, age 28 = 1822 > > 1860 Census, age 33 = 1827 > > 1865 Mustered out of IA 13th infantry, age 44 =1821 > > 1880 Census, age 45 = 1835 > > 1910 Died, age in local newspaper 91 = 1819 > > > > It would seem that he aged very slowly between 1850 and 1860; got old in > a hurry between 1860 and 1865; kept his youth extremely well between > 1865 and 1880 (did he find a fountain of youth in Iowa?); but, alas, as > in The Portrait of Dorian Grey, it more than caught up with him by 1910. > I can't wait to see what the 1870 and 1900 census figures have in store! > Being off by one year is understandable but this 16 year swing is > bothersome. > > > > Suzanne Hunt Thielmann, > > Keeping her sense of humor through the frustration. > > > > > > > ==== HUNT Mailing List ==== > The HUNTList Support Staff > Doug Hunt <[email protected]>, Sandy Hunt <[email protected]> and > Courtney Tompkins <[email protected]> > > > > > ==== HUNT Mailing List ==== > The HUNT Document Archives: > <http://www.c2i2.com/~tompkin/index.html> >