Thanks, Scott. I've always felt it was important to use the location as it existed at the time of the event. In the past I didn't bother to put "USA" so the issue of pre-revolutionary times didn't really come up. Over the last couple of weeks I've been setting up a new family file for my husband and decided since it had been many years since I started mine and I've certainly made changes along the way, that maybe I should get some imput and "do it right this time". I've valued all the various opinions. At the end of the day, I agree, we have to do what works for us and suits our long term goals.
Thanks again everyone. Mary On Wed, Jun 5, 2013 at 6:53 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Mary, Your basic question is one I have wrestled myself. Before I go to > my solution I would like to share a few thoughts with you. I rarely give > input to the questions asked on the Legacy UG, but this time is one of my > exceptions. > > > > I always find it interesting to see so many individuals who have very > strong opinions on so many topics. This topic is one where some > individuals seem to be too lazy to do the research on colonial or > territorial America and/or are too lazy to enter it into their programs. > There is always an excuse about 3 place names vs. 4 place names, or > everybody knows where New York or Connecticut is located, or no country > existed at that time, or it facilitates sorting data, or it's something > else. Keep in mind, some people outside the U.S. may use your data in the > future. Not everyone is as familiar with the history of the U.S. as we are. > > > > You need to decide how detailed or accurate you want your data to be. The > United States has an interesting history fraught with many challenges > regarding place names. We have had British Colonies, Territories, Indian > lands, Unorganized areas, along with lands acquired from other countries > like Spain, France, Russia, Mexico, and some I have likely missed. State, > territory, and county lines frequently changed resulting in records being > located in repositories in one state or county today that were different > than at the time of the original event. Each area brings new challenges and > will cause you to rethink your own rules for place names. What I have > discovered is there is no uniform position on the subject you inquired > about, although I think there should be. > > > > For what it is worth, I believe all events should be identified with a > place name as accurate as you can determine at the time of the original > event. You could end up with entries that look like these examples: > > > > 3 May 1644 Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British America > > 10 Jul 1646 Farmington, Hartford, Connecticut Colony, British America > > 10 Aug 1847 Great Salt Lake Valley, , Alta California Territory, Mexico > > 3 Mar 1848 Great Salt lake Valley, , Unorganized Territory, United States > > 7 Sep 1861 Fort Bridger, Green River, Utah Territory, United States > > > > The bottom line is do what you think is right, hopefully with some logic > and historical basis for your choice, and not because it is easy or because > research is hard. Regardless of your choice ... > > > > Good luck. > > > > Scott North > > West valley City, UT > > > > ------------------------------ > > *From: *"Mary LeClerc" <[email protected]> > *To: *[email protected] > *Sent: *Wednesday, June 5, 2013 1:06:27 AM > > *Subject: *[LegacyUG] Re: location names > > Sorry I tagged onto another thread. I'm new to the usergroup and couldn't > find how to start a new thread myself (plus it's late a night--that's my > excuse). > > I'm not suggesting changing name locations. Just the opposite. I'm > constantly finding people showing a U.S. city in a county that simply > didn't exist at the given date. They've either copied from someone else > who did the same thing, or they have changed what the original record > showed. I want to preserve the original record and be historically correct > at the same time. > > For awhile I solved the pre/post colonial U.S. issue by simply not > putting any country. But I've been recently reminded that there are people > in other countries (I'm joking here.). My software very easily can go in > and put either "U.S.A." or "United States" after all the locations it > recognizes as being states. But that just doesn't work for pre-revolution > dates and I have a lot of those. > > I appreciate your comment about the four fields not working for all > countries. I was just inputting some English records this evening and > understand what you mean. > > Thanks. > Mary > > > > On Wed, Jun 5, 2013 at 1:23 AM, Ron Ferguson > <[email protected]>wrote: > >> Mary, >> >> Whilst what you say may or may not be possible for the time at which the >> country was a colony, please remember that the American 4 field convention >> does not work for much of the world. In my view it is quite wrong to change >> the name of a Location just to make it fit. >> >> Ron Ferguson >> http://www.fergys.co.uk/ >> >> >> >> *From:* Mary LeClerc <[email protected]> >> *Sent:* Wednesday, June 05, 2013 6:29 AM >> *To:* [email protected] >> *Subject:* Re: [LegacyUG] Splitting a family group from main file: >> advice please >> >> I'm trying to be consistent in using a four place convention for all >> locations. How should early Colonial American places be shown? I try to >> show county names as they existed at the time of the event (and don't >> include "County"). Clearly it would not be correct to say "United States" >> nor "America". >> >> thanks, >> Mary L. >> >> >> Legacy User Group guidelines: >> http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp<http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/Etiquette.asp> >> Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: >> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >> Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: >> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >> Online technical support: >> http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp<http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/Help.asp> >> Follow Legacy on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and >> on our blog >> (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com<http://news.legacyfamilytree.com/> >> ). >> To unsubscribe: >> http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp<http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/LegacyLists.asp> >> > > > > -- > Mary LeClerc > [email protected] > My Blog: http://quiltinginoz.blogspot.com/ > My Photos: http://tinyurl.com/3aylx7 > > "Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could have been any > different.” ~ Oprah Winfrey > > "The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. > No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have > an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before." > Dieter Uchtdorf > > > > > Legacy User Group guidelines: > http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp > Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp > Follow Legacy on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and > on our blog (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). > To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp > > > Legacy User Group guidelines: > http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp > Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp > Follow Legacy on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and > on our blog (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). > To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp > -- Mary LeClerc [email protected] My Blog: http://quiltinginoz.blogspot.com/ My Photos: http://tinyurl.com/3aylx7 "Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could have been any different.” ~ Oprah Winfrey "The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before." Dieter Uchtdorf Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp Follow Legacy on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and on our blog (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
