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I have more special assignments ready this morning if anyone wants to work on them.
Please note, I cannot start any new volunteers this week. We're working very hard on the programming for the new site and I can't do both.
Thanks,
--Sheryl Slaughter
Kentucky Vital Records Project Coordinator
---------------------------------
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> 1639: Mrs. Samuel Sampson
Possibly this is Simpson. The person makes fairly large 'a's and since the
motions of writing your name are so automatic, she probably wouldn't have
forgotten it. Also, the dot over the name doesn't appear to be a paper speck.
>
> 1653: Mrs. Gussie unknown [Maybe someone else has a suggestion for surname]
I think this starts with an A - see the given name of the mother. The rest
of the name doesn't want to make sense for me. Ad, Al? Ends in fect, fert,
feat?
Janice
Images have been uploaded and are ready for transcription for the following counties:
Graves -- Kris Clow
Grayson -- Bax McClure
Green -- Marilyn Phelps
--Sheryl Slaughter
Kentucky Vital Records Project Coordinator
---------------------------------
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I have to agree with Barbara, and would lean toward Laura. They most likely
would have appeared on the 1910 census together.
Janice
> Looks like 'Lyaura' to me. The writer used a lot of curly-Q's so might
> have
> added a little decoration to the name which could be 'Laura,' or it could be
> just a slip of the pen when they were signing. I would probably write the
> transcription "Lyaura or Laura" for the informant's given name.
>
> Barbara
>
Marilyn,
I just checked the 1910 original census page and see a Laura B., daughter,
living with Margaret in Campbell Co.
Barbara
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jack and Marilyn" <ljpmap(a)verizon.net>
To: <KYGenWeb-KVRP-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2004 3:59 PM
Subject: [KVRP] Help With Transmission
> I need some help with the first name..........
>
> Last name easy.......Galagher........First name looks like it starts with
an
> L and next letter has a tail like p. Help!
>
> Marilyn
>
>
> ==============================
> Census images 1901, 1891, 1881 and 1871, plus so much more.
> Ancestry.com's United Kingdom & Ireland Collection. Learn more:
http://www.ancestry.com/s13968/rd.ashx
>
>
I need some help with the first name..........
Last name easy.......Galagher........First name looks like it starts with an
L and next letter has a tail like p. Help!
Marilyn
Hello to everyone. We have a little something for you to chew on until the
new assignments come out. Any participation is entirely up to you.
You can save this email, or I'll be glad to send it to you in an attachment
text file. Please pardon any odd spacings that occur - pasting prewritten
information on an email form doesn't always come out right.
Many of you took the training course we offered in 2004. One section that we
especially wanted to get online (but for one reason or another was never
finished) was our unit on deciphering hard-to-read information.
We've decided to pass along the unit to the list, for your enjoyment,
edification, comments and suggestions. Keep in mind that this was an unvetted
version, so there may well be mistakes in content or style, as well as references
made to information that we no longer transcribe. Please be kind! At least I
refrained from including the fluffy "From the dawn of man...." type
introduction I'm prone to use, LOL.
Most of all, we would welcome additions of conditions not already covered.
The unit has many examples cited, and I have shown specific certificates as:
1911-1802.
For the benefit of those who have recently joined us, here's the url for the
group of 1800s certificates (1800 thru 1899)
http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kvrp/dc/19/1911/1/1800/
The url for the specific image of 1802 would be
http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kvrp/dc/19/1911/1/1800/dc1911-1802.html
The url for group 1911-2500 would be
http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kvrp/dc/19/1911/2/2500/
If anyone has the url handy for the cert group of 1952-25000, could you
please post it? Thanks.
For better or for worse, here's the unit on deciphering. Enjoy :)
-Janice
*************************************************
UNIT 2 - DECIPHERING
TESTING YOUR FIRST IMPRESSION
HANDWRITTEN FORMS
Test 1: Does it sound like a name?
Lucretia and Littleberry are no longer used as often as in the 1800’s, but
they still can be recognized as given names. A name or word of random letters is
probably not correct. We must try to ‘shift’ the string of letters and
rethink it into something we can identify.
A primary concern of this site is to provide information as completely and
accurately as possible. If totally legible, we have to assume the entry is
correct, or was believed to be correct by the person who wrote down the original
information. A perfectly written and legible name on the form can have been
misread, misheard, or misspelled by the person who wrote down the information.
Keep in mind that this might be thirdhand information.
Test 2: Appearance
Check the rest of the certificate.
Reading the entire document can give clues as to which date or surname is
correct. A person buried on 13 Jun 1913 could not have died on 15 Jun 1913.
Check to see if the same name is listed elsewhere.
Examples:
1911-1794 ‘unnet’ in Brunnet. Look at undertaker for clue.
1911-1809 ‘ennington’ in Pennington. See father.
1911-1810 Boyd, father. See graveyard and dec’d.
1911-2328 Eubank pob. Several other examples on cert.
1911-2340 Barren Fork pob. See informant.
Look for other examples of the same letter or number, especially when written
in the same hand.
Example certificates:
1947-9504 ‘a’ in Granville
1911-1773 ‘lin’ vs ‘lis’ in Edlin
1911-1494 given name father, Thomas/Thurman
1911-1802 Wiley/Riley, see Dr. Wheeling in medical area
Do the letters indicate a spelling not considered normal? (These would be
legible, just not typical.) Can the letters spell more than one name?
Follow the movements made when the word or name was written. If it is missing
part of a motion that is essential to the character, consider a different
letter.
1911-3928 Stotts, not Statts
Consider the gender of the person in question. If the bride is named Ione,
and capital letters of both given names appear to be the same, the groom’s name
is much more likely to be John than Iohn.
Reference List 1:
Capitals that can be mistaken for others
A/N 1911-2402 Nutgrass
B/R 1911-1779 Ben, LaRue
G/J/L 1911-1754 Goins/Jones/Louis
H/A 1911-1780 Hibernia
H/N 1911-2395 Halderman dec’d
I/J/F 1911-1490 Isaac
I/L/F 1911-1746 birthpl.
K/N 1911-1493 King (moth surn)
K/T/F 1911-1807 pob’s Kentucky
L/S/G 1911-1502 Laura, Louisville, Germany
L/T 1911-1746 mother Lora
L/T 1911-1802 dec’d Lou
M/W 1911-2345 mother Margaret
P/R 1911-2300 Pike,Paris/Regis
Q/S 1911-2325 Quincy
S/L 1911-1490 Solomon
T/J 1911-1787 Tucker
Y/J 1911-2316 Yancey dec’d
Shifting the peaks and valleys.
Try looking at an ‘m’ as a ‘w’. An m was conventionally shown with rounded
‘humps’, but not always. At times you’ll find a person who has inverted the
strokes, making the rounded portions on the lower portion of the letter,
instead of on the top.
This example, used in our earlier training course, shows how one image can
look completely different to each person that reads it.
1911-3915 Mother of the deceased, Emma
Guesses from people who took the course included: Eunice, Euinnia, Euimia,
Euinnia, Eunnice, Zuinna, Emmia, Eunnia, Euvinia, and Erinnia.
Why is this name Emma and not any of the others? Does the name proposed
actually sound like a name? Very often the simplest, or most common answer is
correct.
Try the same techniques on this example:
1911-1499 Saunders informant
Separate the real letter or number from the embellishments.
Calligraphy was an important subject in school, but many people found ways to
be creative.
Examples:
1911- 978 Evert (embellished with curl on end)
1911-1809 Pennington
1911-1490 Solomon
1911-2307 Albert father
1911-2346 Browning father
1911-2307 May dec’d
1911-2378 Polk dec’d
Finding the occasional printed letter in cursive.
Examples:
1952-25372 ‘Russie’ dec’d
1911-1746 ‘e’ in West Covington, ‘r’ in Crowley
1911-1118 ‘e’ Reed, Owens
1911-1499 ‘k’ in Kentucky
1911-1754 ‘r’ Sarah, Barboursville
Signatures from persons almost illiterate
Watch for letters not written as you would expect to see them.
Examples:
1911-2341 Foy closed in ‘y’
1947-9504 deceased given John, ‘a’ in Granville
1911-1493 Cap G partial, ‘a’ in Graham
1911-1491 ‘a’ absorbed into Cap C
1911-1754 ‘r’ Barboursville
Relative height letters not normal
Upstrokes may be shortened, lower loops on ‘g’ or ‘y’ may be exaggerated or
almost missing entirely.
Example:
1911-1473 ‘d’Portland has almost no upstroke
Crossing the tee
One form of ‘t’ is self-crossed; the pen does not leave the paper.
Example:
1911-1466 Herboldt dec’d
A cross stroke on a ‘t’ may not appear near the letter, or may be missing
entirely. A ‘t’ can be crossed in such a way as to cover the entire word from
end to end. Take care that any ‘l’s present are not entered as a ‘t’.
Examples:
1911-1432 Lotz
1939-8027 father’s surname Tipton
1911-1737 mother’s surname Armstrong
Dotting the eye
Some dots on an ‘i’ are so far above the word as to appear in the form line
above. An ‘i’ with a missing dot may have to be determined by the word
itself.
Examples:
1911-1494 Birds Eye, Ind.
1911-2329 Wilburn Dec’d
1911-3299 Winham dec’d
1911-1809 Ruile dec’d
Problems not due to handwriting
Aging documents
On some older grades of paper, ink, age spots or image speckles can produce
an artificial cross mark or dotted i.
Faded areas may be helped by viewing with an image enhancement program.
If you don’t already have one of these programs, a free download is easily
available. Try www.irfanview.com <http://www.irfanview.com> or
the FamilyTree website.
Examples:
1911-1737 dec’d Sarah
1911-2307 father Albert
1911-2310 mother Fannie Kelly
Ink blots and earlier corrections
Ink leaching across paper or use of a wide pen nib to overwrite information
sometimes resulted in a blotted area. A photographic enhancement program can
often (but not always) help to cut through this, and produce data almost out of
nowhere. Be careful, though, to record only what you actually see, and not
what you think it should be.
Examples:
1947-9504 deceased surname Rouse
1911-2300 dec’d Charley/Charly
1911-2350 Southard, father’s surname
1911-2369 Nancy mother
1911-3831 dod (Feb.) 09 , dob (Aug.) 13
TYPEWRITTEN CERTIFICATES
Blurred or faded letters
Too much ink can blur letters such as p, b, q, g, and d.
Example:
1952-25382 confusion of ‘e’ and ‘s’
Worn areas on type can produce an ‘off’ letter, turning a ‘q’ or a ‘d’
into an apparent ‘a’. If the document has worn type, be especially careful of
numbers.
Overstrikes and corrections
Corrections that are apparent on the original surface (ball-point ink on top
of typewriter ink) may not be as visible on an image. Make it a habit to read
the entire document, and consider the context of the problem area.
1952-25353 overstrike of birth month, unable to verify per this cert image,
but one month is shown more clearly than the other. Show in proofer notes.
1952-25199 corrected dod, see age of 12 hours.
1952-25380 Examine the section showing Usual Residence street address. Note
that there is a faint impression of either a 1 or a 4 in front of the house
number. Since both numbers are legible elsewhere on the certificate, it's
probable that this was a corrected typo, giving a street address of 34.
********************************************************
Hi all!
I'm available again to answer questions if needed. My bronchitis is much better. I doubt I'll have time to issue new assignments before the 30th. Christmas is at my house this year and I'll have family visiting for the next week.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!
--Sheryl Slaughter
Kentucky Vital Records Project Coordinator
---------------------------------
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There will be no new assignments for a few days until Sheryl is back on her
feet again. She needs a little time to recuperate, which means ignoring the
computer if you can make yourself do that.
Please continue to send in any questions or comments that you would have
normally. For the next few days, however, messages that would have been answered
by Sheryl on (kyvitals(a)yahoo.com) will be handled or researched by Sherri Hall
and myself.
Thanks for understanding.
Janice
I've been going through the special transcriptions covering race, gender and informant names and have a few observations:
1) Always glance at the name of the doctor who signed off on the cause of death. Often it is the same person as the informant and the writing may be clearer;
2) If you can't read a name, please ask the list. We're beyond being able to leave dots in place of letters unless there is no other option;
3) You may use "or" in a name field if the name could be read more than one way. I just had one that could have been bredmeyen or bredemeyer. I entered it as:
bredmeyen or bredemeyer
4) Please, PLEASE, PLEASE don't use your RETURN/ENTER key AT ALL on these. There are a large number of false submits coming through and it really eats up my time to fix them!
5) Please proof EVERYTHING before you press the submit button. If you get the certificate number wrong, it will overwrite someone else's correct entry for that certificate and this makes a HUGE mess;
6) If you absolutely cannot read a name, please check the Kentucky Death Index and enter what is shown there for any names they show:
http://vitals.rootsweb.com/ky/death/search.cgi
This particular database will allow you to enter the county of death and the year. It will bring up a list of all deaths in that county for that year. There is a better one at ancestry.com, but you must register to use it. It will allow you to narrow your search down to the exact date:
http://www.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=3077
--Sheryl Slaughter
Kentucky Vital Records Project Coordinator
---------------------------------
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Death certificate images have been uploaded and are ready to be transcribed for:
Graves Co. (Kris Clow - temporary assignment)
--Sheryl Slaughter
Kentucky Vital Records Project Coordinator
---------------------------------
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I just thought I'd remind everyone that the instructions have changed quite a
bit since I gave training classes earlier in the year.
All of you who took the course were asked to remember tons of small details,
and we were pretty finicky about the transcriptions. After Sheryl was able to
revise the entry forms (the software now automatically changes and corrects a
lot of details) it's easy enough that a training course is no longer needed.
That makes me sad because it was a great way to get to know everyone. But
it's also great that people can start transcribing almost immediately.
Almost. If you haven't already, you need to go to the forms page and check
out the 'Instructions' link. I was caught a couple of times myself - LOL, that
should teach me.
One last thing. Before Lynn left the project to begin a new job, she passed
along to me some comments made by proofers. They told her how much improvment
they were seeing by transcriptionists who had taken the training course.
They were able to complete their proofing a lot more quickly with a lot fewer
corrections. They loved you guys.
So, for you folks who completed the course and have hung around, I wanted you
to know your efforts weren't wasted.
Janice