Von: TedSned@aol.com ()
  Datum: 09.10.98, 17:08:21
Betreff: Re: Strange Customs

Francis:

You offer very good advice.  I do have two comments, however.

Writing dates:  you are correct in that the "American" way, i.e., month, day,
year, is awkward and doesn't make much sense to non-English spearkers.  That
is changing, however.  The US military, for example, has long used the day-
month-year sequence, and increasingly one sees that usage pervading the US
government, as well as a strictly numerical sequence that is the exact
reverse, i.e., yymmdd (today would be 981009).  But more pertinently, the
standard genealogical formulation for dates in the US is just what you say,
e.g., 9 Oct 1998.

Translating names:  I agree that there is little, if anything, to be gained
from trying to translate the names one finds in a KB or elsewhere.  On the
other hand, when you are looking at an immigrant family from this side of the
ocean, the English version of a German (or whatever) name might be helpful.
Many German immigrants "Americanized" their names very shortly after arriving
in this country.  Typically (but not always), they would adopt an English
version of their name, whether Rufname or other, and sometimes would even
translate (or attempt to translate) their family name. In tracing them back to
the old country, it can be useful, and perhaps even essential, to have some
idea of what their names might have been there.  So if a William Smith
enumerated in the 1870 US census claims he was born in Württemberg, then it
would be useful to know that one might start searching for Wilhelm Schmidt or
similar, and not Franz-Josef Müller.  It's no guarantee, of course, but it is
a clue and a place to start.

Again, thanks for your very useful contribution.

Ted Snediker