RE: [PAF] State Boundary Changes

["Elaine" <Elaine@ns3.burgoyne.com>]

To Tom Sevy and others interested.  There is a neat little program out there
called AniMap Plus.  It shows all of the boundary changes for all of the
counties in all of the states in the US.  This is portrayed on screen in a
state map showing county boundaries. It gives the date the new county was
formed and from which old counties it was created.  A great way to know if
county boundaries have changed.  I the "plus" is another add on that allows
you to put in the name of a town and it will show all the places in the US
that the town ever existed in (even little towns that are long ago
forgotten). It even gives you the latitude and longitude of the town. I can
then use this information as one of my documentation sources for the place
of an event, on PAF.  I have had this program only 2 weeks and have referred
to it many times already, using both parts of it.  If interested order
direct from the company at www.goldbug.com or any of your favorite genealogy
resellers.  Elaine FHC in St. George (former of Bennion East Stake-Valley
Park Ward).

-----Original Message-----
From: paf@ufo.netsonic.fi [mailto:paf@ufo.netsonic.fi]On Behalf Of
Thomas D. Sevy
Sent: Monday, February 21, 2000 12:05 AM
To: paf@innernet.org; PAF-4-USERS-L@rootsweb.com
Subject: [PAF] State Boundary Changes


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
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,
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.

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
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.

I look forward especially to comments about my State Boundary Changes
question.

Tom Sevy


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