Re: [PAF] State Boundary Changes

[Cheryl Singhal <csinghal@CapAccess.org>]

Hi, Tom.

On Mon, 21 Feb 2000, Thomas D. Sevy wrote:

> While looking at some of my ancestors who went from New England to
> West Virginia in the early 1700s, I noticed that some said a person
> was born 1808 in Pocahontas county, Virginia and another source or
> entry in Family Search would say they were born 1808 in Pocahontas
> County, West Virginia.  I saw so much of this that I went to my

ROTFL!  Check the 1870 census and check the county death records.  
PLEASE!  Reason follows later.

> Everton Genealogy Handbook and discovered something that I should have
> remembered from High School U.S. History.  During the civil war, the
> eastern part of Virginia went with the Confederacy and the Western
> part joined the Union as a new state in about 1865.  Therefore,

Uh -- No, not quite.  VIRGINIA went with the Confederacy; then the 
western part of Virginia seceded from Virginia 21 Jun 1862 and became the 
35th state.  Unfortunately, the Woah was just the excuse -- those west of 
the mountains didn't like being governed by the eastern elitists (g) and 
had been trying to get their own state for decades.  the US Congress 
didn't agree until they saw a chance for propaganda value and to "even" 
the odds, and to gain another pro-war vote.  

4 yr sof Virginia History will do that to you. (g)

> Pocahontas County was part of Virginia in 1808, but was part of West
> Virginia starting in 1865.  I know that such problems occur even more
> often with counties, but when a state changes boundaries it's a little
> more of a problem -- at least to me.  To be fully accurate, the birth
> in 1808 should be recorded Virginia. But, and to me it's a big BUT,
> this will be confusing to others who read the record and don't know
> the history.  I'd like to know how others have handled this issue.
> For example if you want to look all the Seavey's born in West
> Virginia, you'll miss the pre1865 one's when doing a search.

Remember those census records?  and the death records I mentioned 
earlier?  Until World War I reunited the country politically, the 
statement of birthplace was a POLITICAL statement, not a geographic one.
IF the person said "I was born in 1842 in West Virginia" he was shouting 
his political affiliation.  IF he said, "I was born in Morgantown 
Virginia in 1870" he was once more announcing his politics.

Your problem seems to stem from someone's else's statement, though, not 
the person involved (but check the census and death records anyway).

> This illustrates one of my high priorities on the PAF4 wish list for
> future changes.  I'd like to put an asterisk or some other signal to
> the reader that there is an important explanation of the information
> in a particular field.  It would have to be specially programmed in to

It also illustrates the frustration of having the rules change on you. 
(g)  Back in the early 1970s when I first started genealogy, we were told 
that the "new rules" were to record the event in its PRESENT location, so 
anyone following up would be flagged to where the record was in 1971.  By 
the mid-1980s, we were being told to record the event in its ORIGINAL 
location and let future followers-up find it.  By the mid-1990s, I was 
hearing it was advisable to record BOTH locations because the original 
location was on the document and had to be recorded as written but the 
present location was an important fact that couldn't be omitted.



> avoid affecting a sort or messing up a date.  For example, if you have
> two versions of a birth date or two versions of a location or a name
> was changed or you have new information that contradicts  what was
> previously assumed to be so.  I would really like such a signal.

Well, but if you use one of those nasty wishy-washy event-based programs 
(naming NO names here), it will let you record the same event 
forty-'leven ways from Sunday -- once in West Virginia, once in Virginia; 
once in Pocahantas county, once in Augusta county, and once in West 
Augusta District and for each of those, once each in VA and WV.  It will 
NOT avoid the problem that sooner or later you're going to have to PICK 
one as your "default" or "primary" or "preferred".  And in this event,
I feel sooner is better than later. (g)

(And, yes, there was a reason for the county names I picked.)

One more place where an improving standard is worse than no standard (see 
also: GedCom standard).

Cheryl
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