It is never a good idea to abbreviate anything in genealogy. We've had at least one major change in State abbreviations in my lifetime. Always write out all names, dates and places. I don't even like the "genie" way of abbreviating months, but we must be sure and use three letters. Often March and May have been confused in times past. When I am writing a narrative, I always type out the numbers of things or age of people so that cannot be confused either. Nora Stewart Yahl in St. Louis, MO In a message dated 2/15/2006 8:45:55 PM Mountain Standard Time, SHAABBOTT@aol.com writes: I have seen a census taker write the abbreviation "IA" for birthplace. As I knew this particular family was born in Indiana, I realized it was his abbreviation for Indiana not Iowa. We can't always assume today's abbreviations were the same in the 1800s. ***************************** Wow. That's a new one for me that I had not thought about. Thank you for the tip off Ruth Cherecwich ==== STEWART Mailing List ==== Visit: http://q.webring.com/hub?ring=clanstewartring Join the Clan Stewart Ring!