Dear Pat, Thanks for your kind reply. I had not realized that Ward 12 was in Southie in the 1860's. Can I presume, then, that Ward Numbers change over the decades ? Is there some convenient way of finding this kind of intelligence, that you may be aware of ? As for all the fun with our ' quaint " accents, I met a man this past week who is from Medford. I asked him how he learned to pronounce the name of his city. He boldly replied, " Meffid .' You can't get it any fresher than that. Thanks, again, Joe