ROOTS & BRANCHES

Names of individuals—especially surnames—are a genealogist’s “stock in trade.”

Well, if they are the “inventory” of family history, then you might say that place names are the “packaging” of that stock we work with in doing our pedigrees (Likely in some future column I’ll get into how the times and eras of our ancestors are the “shipping”—oh, may that it be free and overnight!—but maybe I’ll take some time to sharpen that metaphor).

Just as real life addresses change—even though my mother never moved, for example, she went through a series of renumberings of the “Rural Delivery Route 1” boxes until street addresses were established—place names can shift, too, and that becomes a real thorn in a genealogist’s side.

Especially in the rapid expansion of the United States in the 19^th century, political boundaries changed rapidly and likely could be looking in the wrong present-day spot if you are not accounting for the potential that the historical boundaries might be different than they are today.

Take for example someone born in 1780 in what’s now North Annville Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. When that person was born, the area was part of Lebanon Township, Lancaster County.

Genealogists are implored to record place names for events as they were when the event happened.

I agree with this as a general principle but when I see in family trees how much this appears to confuse many people when they put together online trees, it gives me pause—as well as suggesting a solution that others have endorsed to use both the “when it happened” place identification as well as the present-day location in parentheses.

In the example above, the place for the source would be written as: “North Annville Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania (Lebanon Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania).” Some people would append the final name of “United States” (or “British North America” if before the Declaration of Independence) for complete clarity.

This concept gets a little more complicated when you try to replicate it for foreign places with what I call a non-linear history, as opposed to the overwhelmingly linear history of the United States in which new counties, towns, townships, boroughs and cities were subdivided from existing ones after counties that were originally created.

Chief among the areas with non-linear history is Germany, with its history of many small states that sliced and diced as areas were conquered and minor dynasties died out and their land divided.

As a matter of fact, these complications are serious enough that they’ll need to be a whole “Roots & Branches” column next week!