Great point, Virginia. To add to that, earlier entries for an individual were more likely to be misspelled than later ones. I came to think that the Know Nothing haters were not accustomed to Irish surnames. For example, my Daniel O'Connell was first listed as "Daniel O. Connell," as I found him buried in the "C" section. [Back in Ireland all records are also "C."] Just imagine how we Irish fouled up directories with our Mc names. Take McNamara. It can appear as M'Namara & Mc_Namara & McNamara & Mac- [space or no space]. Publishers didn't know how to alphabetize us and sometimes Mc names appear before Ma- names. Residents paid to be listed in city directories, which may also account for absent names. During the 19c, women were only listed if widows. When I was inexperienced with NYC directory listings, I was amazed at the numbers of men who worked in "Laboratories," which is what I thought "Lab" represented. Then, I searched the abbreviations listed in the beginning pages. In NYC, the annual directory came out on May 1st and ran through April 30th of the following year. May 1st was the official moving day in early Manhattan. You can read about it in the preface section. Trivia: Directories were published as hardcover books. I've used them in NYC & Westchester Co. Barb MizScarlettNY@aol.com -----Original Message----- From: VLB via <vlbcfb@yahoo.com; Check every possible spelling of the last name. Names were often misspelled. Your ancestor may not be listed if he was living with someone else--relative, friend--who was the head of household. They were very diligent in trying to list every head of household tho they had problems during the Civil War when many are missing for a variety of reasons. Virginia -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Michael Hamill ..mhamill44@comcast.net, Good morning all - I have a question about 19th c. NY city directories: does anyone know how the information was collected? I have one elusive ancestor in particular who is listed in some but there are gaps, and I wonder what the information-gathering process was. Thanks for any help you can offer - Michael

Before computers came on the scene it was common practice to list the names that began with Mc or Mac to be merged and in a separate section from the other M names. It was helpful, making it quicker to search for such names. Computers weren't able to handle that, so Mc and Mac joined the other Ms and now we have to search for both options separately! -----Original Message----- From: mizscarlettny via Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2016 1:57 PM To: ny-irish@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [NY-IRISH] City Directories Great point, Virginia. Just imagine how we Irish fouled up directories with our Mc names. Take McNamara. It can appear as M'Namara & Mc_Namara & McNamara & Mac- [space or no space]. Publishers didn't know how to alphabetize us and sometimes Mc names appear before Ma- names.

I remember being surprised at how many men were named Jasper, which was what I assumed "Jas." was short for! On Thu, Feb 18, 2016 at 4:57 PM, mizscarlettny via <ny-irish@rootsweb.com> wrote: > When I was inexperienced with NYC directory listings, I was amazed > at the numbers of men who worked in "Laboratories," which is what I > thought "Lab" represented. > Then, I searched the abbreviations listed in the beginning pages. > > >