Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2003 17:21:51 -0600 From: "Paul Drake" <pauldrake@charter.net> To: VAROOTS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <005201c3ce62$8a607540$6400a8c0@charter.net> Subject: Re: [VAROOTS] Social Security -5 Form....... One should question every single fact on a birth, death, marriage or SS certificate, even within those records kept by govt, except PERHAPS the names of the immediately subject persons, and even those names often have erroneous initials (or none), nicknames, and many variations in spelling. Just as you have made mistakes, so too have our ancestral record keepers, and those errors often are greatly compounded by the abstractors whose materials are on the net, and sold either for money or are free. In short, there ain't no such thing as a set of perfect records, and the more folks who have transcribed those early records, the greater the chance of mistake. Paul ______________________________________________________________________ This is so true. On my birth certificate I had to correct the spelling of both my first and middle name. My mother's middle name was listed as Francis (her brother's middle name) and my father's place of birth was incorrect. Being a genealogist I could not "rest," until these mistakes were corrected. Using my college transcript I corrected the spelling of both my first and middle name. I then used my mother's birth certificate to correct her name and my father's birth certificate to correct his place of birth. I have a copy of my original birth certificate and also a copy of the corrected one. The incorrect portion was marked through and the correct names were typed above each space. The supporting documentation used to make these corrections was annotated on the birth certificate. My future descendants will not have to wonder about the validity of my birth certificate, and I can "rest in peace." Darlene Shawn