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28 December 2012

Do You Have the Wrong Name? And Proofread!

Did you relative get the wrong name in their head? I wrote a complete blog post about a man named Joseph Watson, only to refer to him as James Watson almost every time I used his name. Is it possible that your ancestor simply referred to the wrong person when giving information?


And proofread what you write--more than once. It's possible that you made a mistake as well--and those accidental, "got it in my head wrong" mistakes sometimes come back to haunt you.

5 comments:

  1. What a relief! I'm not the only one to slip from George to James or Maryland to Delaware in the middle of writing a report. Proofread, proofread, proofread!

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  2. Is there somewhere I could read that blog on Joseph Watson? Could be related. My GGrandfather was Joseph Watson & I've traced back to John Watson in the 1600's.

    Merri Humel

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    Replies
    1. The blog post is here:

      http://rootdig.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-james-by-any-other-name.html

      This Joseph was County Cumberland and came to Chicago in the late 1800s, probably dying in Texas.

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    2. My comment about Joseph dying in Texas was written too quickly and is in correct. The Joseph referenced in this card died in Chicago, Illinois, in 1930. That's what I get for writing from memory and my appreciation to a fellow researcher who noted the mistake.

      Delete
  3. Thanks so much for your quick answer.

    Merri

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