It seems the trained monkeys who are indexing census, have invented a place called "Gland of Malta." Seriously:
Frank Smith: | |
Birth Year: | abt 1793 |
---|---|
Age in 1870: | 77 |
Birthplace: | Gland of Malta |
Home in 1870: | Castleton, Richmond, New York |
Race: | White |
Gender: | Male |
It's funny, but when I look at the link, I see "Island of Malta." Stuff like this really tries my patience.
But imagine my surprise when I found another record, this a death certificate.
This is what I found in the indexing:
Name: | Not Named Smith | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Death Date: | 27 Dec 1916 | |||
Death Location: | Franklin | |||
Residence Location: | Franklin | |||
Age: | 71 | |||
Gender: | Male | |||
Ethnicity: | White | |||
Birth Date: | 15 Jun 1845 | |||
Birth Location: | Harrison | |||
Father's Name: | Frank C Smith | |||
Father's Birth Location: | Kentucky | |||
Mother's Name: | Agnes B Chinn | |||
Mother's Birth Location: | Kentucky |
I mean, really, who goes through 71 years without a first name? No one. His name, Frank B. Smith is clearly written on the death certificate.
Now, if I am looking for a death certificate and I see something like "Not Named," I tend to skip over it, figuring it is a stillborn. Of course, a closer look shows that the Not Named is 71 years old and a closer look shows his name clearly written.
I still don't know whether to laugh or cry!
Copyright 2010, ACK for Gene Notes
Ancestry is giving you great blog fodder. SIGHHHH
ReplyDeleteAnd as if that isn't enough, every time I hit a census link for the last few hours I get the "Check Back Soon .." message.
ReplyDelete