Hearing a story over & over again, whether it be different speakers at seminars, census classes or even the exalted Loretto Dennis Szucs, does not make it true. Ever heard the one about four brothers who came to America? The point of discussion still remains that what you are claiming is not supported by fact, regardless of how logical it sounds, or how many times it has been repeated. People invent reasoning all the time to bolster a particular viewpoint. It makes really good hype, but eventually those inventors and their inventions are exposed for what they are .... and this is one of those cases. About the only thing that would truly help your case is if you were to come up with a first-hand testimonial from an actual 1940-or-earlier enumerator :-) /From:/ christietrapp@aol.com <mailto:christietrapp@aol.com> /Subject:/ [NJHUNTER] Instructions to Enumerators - follow up /Date:/ Wed, 4 Apr 2012 20:01:05 -0400 (EDT) > In defense of my statement that enumerators weren't "allowed" to ask, and the > subsequent statement about whether my "rule" was fact or fiction, I can only > state that I've been doing genealogy since the 1970s and in the 1980s to now I > started attending seminars and census classes over the years and many of the > instructors either flat out stated, or hinted that asking how to spelling a > name was a forbidden question