In Hastings Nebraska They Have a Flock of Geese...Not Sheep

As my work colleague from west Texas used to say "Good Honk!"

I was browsing the on Ancestry.com to see if they had records for any Lutheran churches in Hastings, Nebraska.

They do.

For the Goos Shepherd Lutheran Church.

It's an obvious typographical error in the name of the church, but it makes a good point about citations of information we find in online databases.

It's "Goos" on the drop down list of churches in Hastings, but it's pretty clear from the microfilm that the name of the church is Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. And that's what I suspected the name actually was the minute I saw it.



If I were to use any of these digital images at Ancestry.com of ELCA records in my own genealogical database, my citation should comment that Ancestry.com has named the church in the database as the "Goos[sic] Shepherd Lutheran Church." I should comment in my notes what the correct name is. I should not use that name for the church when entering information into my genealogical records--for that I should use Good Shepherd Lutheran Church as that's the actual name of the church.

I have an inkling that Ancestry.com will change the name of the database upon learning of the error.

So if I make any discoveries in the records for the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Hastings, Nebraska, I'll wait until the name of the church has been corrected.

If you've not browsed the "Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Records, 1875-1940," do so. They are an excellent set of records. Even if there is the occasional goose lurking around.

Note: All images were taken at approximately 4:45 central time 8 May 2015. Except for the image of the goose. That was taken around 9:00 am central time 8 May 2015. I had no idea it was going to be an illustration for a blog post.