[PW] 1880 handwriting conundrum

[David Anderson]

Allen,

In looking at an enlarged (200%) version of the 1880 census page on 
Ancestry.com, I'd figure that this 9 year old was recorded by the census 
taker as Lalte. When the census taker crossed the tee, he also crossed the 
second ell.

But who knows what the informant said the boy's name was, or how the census 
taker heard the name. (My own mother's mother's name (Lilla) was recorded 
correctly only once from 1880 to 1930.) After all, the census taker put down 
the _wrong_ birth place for their birth father's name. And that we attribute 
to the fact that the informant (A L or A P?) didn't bother to supply it or 
the children's (presumably) correct last name. It may have been the census 
taker's instructions led them to give the apprentice in the household the 
role of boarder instead of apprentice.

Regards,

David

David C Anderson
340 Killdeer Court
Lincoln, CA 95648-2474 USA
916/408-0110
rockydell at digitalpath.net
http://rockydellresources.homestead.com


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <AllenAmet at aol.com>
To: <list at project-wombat.org>
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 1:17 PM
Subject: [PW] 1880 handwriting conundrum


> Hi,
>
>  Todd and I have been working on an 1880 US Census, from Ohio. There  are
> two parents (Schutt, A. L. and wife A.P.), and six children living with 
> them.
>
>  We are having some difficulty (to put it mildly) in reading the  first 
> name
> of the 9-year-old boy. The other names appear to be Harry  (Henry?), 
> Mamie,
> xxxxx,  Aloes L.,  Frankie,  and  Joseph.
>
>  The birth parents were Czech/Bohemian and had come to the US in the 
> 1860s.
> The step-father listed here (A. L. Schutt) was from Alsace  (France).  All
> the children,however, were born here (in the US), probably  in Cleveland.
>
> In later years, this problematic son may have been called  "Albert" or
> "Leo."  But what is that strange word for him on line  12?  I would give 
> you our
> best guess, but don't want to affect anyone's  judgment ahead of time.
>
>  The 1880 Census photo (excerpt) is now stored at (watch  the possible 
> wrap):
>
> _http://s296.photobucket.com/albums/mm182/allenamet/?action=view&current=1880CensusReading.jpg_
> (http://s296.photobucket.com/albums/mm182/allenamet/?action=view&current=1880CensusReading.jpg)
>
>    but if it's more convenient, I can also send  it as a 200 dpi 
> attachment
> (jpg) to anyone who wants to try their hand at 19th  century handwriting
> decipherment.  But who will decide if a solution  is correctly reached?
>
> TIA.
>
> Allen
>
>
>
>
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