Thanks, Dotty, for saying it so well!!! Those of us who started research in the 1960s (or earlier)- before census on line (actually before on-line)say a great big thank you every day we can use Ancestry.com. When the 1900 census was first released you had to go to DC (or pay someone to search) the microfilm. Than came the release of the 1910 census - joy!!!joy!!! And we hung around long enough for the 1920 - then miracle of miracles, the 1930 (I am a five year old in the 1930 census!!!) Sure hope I can hang around until 2012 for the release of the 1940 census!!! Floreda -----Original Message----- From: Dotty Cole [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, July 16, 2006 11:00 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [NJHUDSON-L] Re: NJHUDSON-D Digest V06 #99 I have to reply to this email. I have a membership at ancestry.com and I would not give it up for anything. I use it at least 8 hours a day every day. Please do not blame ancestry for all your problems. Yes, they do have difficulty with unusual characters especially the characters you mentioned and with characters such as ΓΈ which appear in Danish names. When you consider what it took for us to have the census records on line, Ancestry is only a small part of that whole process. 1. The census enumerator had to follow his or her instructions and try to meet with the head of household. We all know that did not always happen. And even if it did, he may have written down a name incorrectly doing his or her best to write what was heard. My husband's great grandfather, Valentine Schneider, was enumerated in 1880 as Wallentine Snyder. The enumerator had a definitely English sounding name and Valentine had a very German accent. Then people way back then flipped between first and middle names frequently from one census to another. The person the enumerator actually spoke with needed to know how old each person in the household was and even their birth month in the 1900 census. 2. The enumerator had to enter the data he had collected at each household and had written down on "work pages" onto the actual pages we see today. If he did not have good handwriting, things might not be clear. If he used ink that faded, things might not be clear. If he did not know how to calculate, age might be wrong. And if anyone wanted to hide anything, such as how many children a woman had had, etc., the record could be wrong. 3. The census pages we see today had to be protected until such time as each and every page could be photographed. We all know what happened to the 1890 census. 4. The photographer and equipment needed to be accurate when these old records were finally photographed. Sometimes pages are blurred, sometimes the top or bottom of the page is black. I find that if you copy the page to your hard drive it is possible frequently to lighten the page enough to actually read what is there 5. Then we come to the transcribers. I have often wondered just how many transcribers it must have taken for all of this information to be available to us today. These transcribers were not as familiar with the families we are researching as we are today. They did the best they could. So please give Ancestry.com a break and just be thankful we have this wonderful tool to use. It might go away some day and we would be back to using the films at our local library. Use it while you can. I sometimes feel like a real detective gathering all the data--I like that feeling. Dotty Sprague Cole Lake Mary Florida Searching Schneider/Schmidt and Langrehr/Heittman in JC ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom O'Hare" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, July 16, 2006 12:00 AM Subject: Re: [NJHUDSON-L] Re: NJHUDSON-D Digest V06 #99 > Hello Evelyn and List. > ANYONE RESEARCHING IRISH SURNAMES ON ANCESTRY.COM SHOULD READ THIS !!! > > Evelyn, I found your Thomas, Anna & son William McHugh in the 1930 > census and forwarded the image tio you. If you have not received it, > please contact me. > Ancestry.com has butchered the processing of some Irish surnames in > some of their programs, not just the census records. Names starting with > "Mc" such as McHugh were often erroneously transcribed as > Mc Hugh with a space between the Mc and the rest of the name. In the 1930 > census for Jersey City there are 77 McHughs found if you enter McHugh in > the search bloc. The problem is that there were about 130 McHughs in JC in > the 1930 census. If you input the name erroneously with a space between Mc > and Hugh (Mc Hugh), you will find another 53 McHughs that the original > search did not locate, including Evelyn's missing Thomas, Anna, and son > William. > Ancestry.com had also butchered the transcription of surnames begining > with "O' ". If you input my surname in the search bloc, the response will > be "Your Exact Search for O'Hare returned no matches." Ancestry has > dropped the apostrophe in names begining with O'. As a result you can > never get an accurate search response for those names without corrupting > the name, such as "ohare". > Ancestry has also input a number of O' names incorrectly by reporting > the O as a middle initial and the rest of the name as the surname.Thus in > 1930 in Binghamton, N.Y. Margaret O'Hare was incorrectly transcribed as > Margaret O. Hare, and is indexed under surname Hare, not her real surname > O'Hare. > Having a degree of poor quality in their product is one thing, but not > owning up to it is quite another. These flaws were reported to Ancestry by > me on several occasions, but they have ignored my complaints. Recently I > have filed a complaint with the BBB, Utah. > Use caution when using Ancestry.com for Mc and O' Irish surnames. > Tom O'Hare, Buffalo, N.Y. > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Saturday, July 15, 2006 9:27 PM > Subject: [NJHUDSON-L] Re: NJHUDSON-D Digest V06 #99 > > >> Anyone with access to the 1930 Federal Census for Jersey City could >> help >> me >> a great deal by sending me the image from my father's parent's entry. >> >> I spent years trying to find my Dad, Arthur McHugh and his parents >> Anna >> (Sprenger) and Thomas McHugh without success and thought the census had >> simply >> missed them when I could not find a baby Arthur anywhere that was the >> correct >> age with the correct parents. I did not have an exact DOB for Thomas, >> but I >> did know that Anna was born in 1909 or 10, depending upon whom and what >> you >> believed. >> >> Last weekend, I decided to give it one last shot by using the >> Ancestry >> free >> 3 day trial, and I found a couple with the correct names and ages living >> in >> JC with a baby "William" aged nine months. That Thomas was born in 1908, >> which >> fits the information I have and it apparently explained a part of the >> family >> rift that happened when my grandfather died in 1934 - that Irish >> Catholic >> "William" (named after Thomas' brother in law) became "Arthur", >> rechristened as >> a Lutheran and renamed after Anna's father's brother in law and lifelong >> best friend, Arthur Bowden when Anna returned home to live with her >> parents >> after her husband died. >> >> As you can guess, this filled in a lot of holes in family history for >> us, mainly why none of the McHugh's talked to the Sprengers until my >> late father was nearly fifty years old - and why Dad refused to have >> anything to do with religion or religious services or talk about his >> upbringing. >> >> I tried to send myself the image, but Ancestry sent me only a link, >> and >> will >> not let me access the information without plucking down my credit card >> for >> the infamous "14 day free trial", which I refuse to do. If anyone could >> send me >> the information, it would be very much appreciated. The three of them >> were >> living on Bartholdi Avenue, just a short way from the Sprenger's and >> McHugh's >> family homes. >> >> Thanks for any help - >> >> Evelyn McHugh >> Researching McHugh, Rehill, Sprenger and Kraft from Jersey City from >> 1900 - >> 1960. >> >> >> =epm= >> >> Ask not why the rose has thorns. >> Rather rejoice that the thornbush has a rose. >> - Anonymous >> >> >> ==== NJHUDSON Mailing List ==== >> New people subscribe to and unsubscribe from the list each week. >> You are encouraged to resubmit your queries two or three times >> per year to reach new listmembers. >> >> > > > > ==== NJHUDSON Mailing List ==== > Visit the Hudson County N.J. GenWeb page at: > http://www.rootsweb.com/~njhudson/ > > ==== NJHUDSON Mailing List ==== Visit the Hudson County N.J. GenWeb page at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~njhudson/