10 May 2012

That "of" Makes a Big Difference

One always has to take transcriptions with a grain of salt. In readying myself for a presentation in a few weeks, I was reviewing information on a family from the Chicago area. In looking at the database of Cook County, Illinois marriages from 1871 to 1920 on FamilySearch, I found an entry that looked a little strange.

This screen shot is the results page on FamilySearch for Ralph Watson Frame. I knew that Cook County marriages in 1884 did not provide places of birth for the bride and groom.

Sure enough a look at the marriage license indicated that Frame was "of Kensington," not that he was born there. That little "of" makes a big difference.

It always pays to go to the original. Always.

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