and they change the rules all the time.. There use to be a TOWN of Rome and then the City within Now I think it's all the City of Rome with an inner tax district (city) and an outer tax district (what was the town outside the city) but all identified as the City of Rome. Neal F. Carrier Holland Patent, NY ncarrier@dreamscape.com web site www.dreamscape.com/ncarrier Listowner Carrier-Roots Mail List Rootsweb.com contributor ----- Original Message ----- From: cherylewaterman <cherylewaterman@chicago.avenew.com> To: <NYONEIDA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, December 12, 1999 9:39 PM Subject: Re: [NYONEIDA-L] DUNN, William > > This definition about a "Town" is a basic item that all of us > Midwesterners need to learn when we do genealogy. I remember going to > Rome when young, and coming upon the "Town of Rome" sign miles from the > town. It was very confusing to me until my mom explained the > difference. We were then from Ohio where "Town" means a small city. > It's just one little example of linguistic differences currently > existing in our country. That's also why we need to try to make sure we > are interpreting documents correctly by using definitions that were > common during the time period when the document was written. > > DRaffe3066@aol.com wrote: > > > > I see the "town" of Stueban outlined adjoining Remsen , to the West, NE a few > > miles from Rome. I am from Michigan and we would call the "town of Stueben", > > a township, encompassing a geographical area which may contain no notable