On Aug 28, 2007, at 3:50 PM, [email protected] wrote: > From: "Bonnie Weber" <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [RIGENWEB] WADE-HAWKINS (not HOPKINS!) - a correction > Hi Don > > I don't know where Bonnie got the scan, I took it from a photocopy of the primary record which appeared in the book "Jonathan Wade of Ipswich, Massachusetts" by Doris P. Schultz (1989) I am not familiar with the primary record volumes at the local level in RI myself, Don, so am unable to answer your earlier question as to whether some records were omitted in transcription. Human error would seem to predict that such happens on occasion. It is simply always the best to consult the primary records. Most of us cannot, however. I would think local communities could scan their old volumes and offer them by subscription a la Ancestry.com -- but on their own, so that the local community reaps all the proceeds. I should think such a project would soon pay for itself. There are enough family history addicts out there who, like myself, would be all too glad to cough up a membership fee for such service. Sure would rather see local communities benefit instead of commercial enterprises like Ancestry, with which I have something of a love-hate relationship. > but it is right, and we were wrong. > This isn't a first, but there are not many who will dispute the > original > records that we have access to. > > As with your own line, sometimes, you just have to dig a little > deeper, and > that is what Bonnie did. I don't really deserve the credit here. Others have found the the original record before me -- but the important thing is, like you both are saying... getting to that primary record. Another record source that is often overlooked by us beginners is that of the land records. We tend to focus on birth-marriage-death and probate records, but land records can have such nuggets! They are often a good bit harder to read though. Another dream of mine is that each community would not only put all these land records online but also any old maps tied into the land records (when such maps exist). Seeing where your ancestor lived and who lived in the vicinity sometimes is extremely helpful in trying to trace no-name wives, etc. Well, one can dream..... Bonnie Oakland, California