23 September 2009

India Indians in Kansas in 1870


I am a big fan of Ancestry.com and use it virtually every day (and every morning, every night, etc.).

However, like any tool, it needs to be used appropriately and users need to keep in mind that finding aids are created by humans.
The 1870 census index includes a referernce for Philip Sicks as shown above. The index lists his place of birth as India. The partial census image makes it seem pretty clear the reference is to Indiana and not the the country of India.
Others have noticed this before, but I thought they had corrected all these errors. I guess not.