Homestead file, pre-1908, citing a particular document

By F.T.C. on Sat, 10/22/2022 - 14:02

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Dear EE,

In citing documents from a pre-1908 homestead file, I'm following the example at EE 3rd ed., 11.23: Land Entry Files, Manuscripts, but have some questions:

  1. Do I need to add anything to indicate that I’m using a digital image supplied by an individual records retriever rather than having viewed the actual document in person at the National Archives?
  2. In the case of an affidavit (with its date) being cited as the first element, is it necessary to specify whose affidavit it is if the file contains multiple affidavits from one (or more) person(s) but only one affidavit of that date? (In this case the affiant is the person whose homestead file is being cited, so I’m trying to avoid redundancy without omitting anything that needs to be included.)
  3. If I cite additional documents from the same homestead file, do I need to use the full First Reference Note format for each one or is it acceptable to use the Subsequent Reference Note format with the appropriate document information and date substituted as the first element? (Again I’m trying to avoid redundancy, and in this instance the additional citations to the file all occur in the same paragraph as the First Reference Note.)

Thank you very much for providing the opportunity for me to ask these questions.

F.T.C.

Submitted byEEon Sun, 10/23/2022 - 10:56

Hello, F.T.C.

1. In our working files, we would certainly want to record that the document was supplied by a records retriever—and identify the person. At publication time, you might choose to drop this.

2.  Yes, in citing an affidavit, we always cite the person and date. The who and the when is a part of every citation because those two details are critical to the evaluation of whatever information you take from that source. If there is only one affidavit and the affiant is the claimant, we might say "affidavit of claimant, 4 July 1888" to avoid redundancy and to clarify that the John Smith who created the affidavit was the same John Smith who filed the homestead claim (as opposed to a son, a cousin, or a same-named neighbor, etc.).

3. If you use an additional document from the same file, in a subsequent note, then yes, the subsequent-note format would be used at publication time. The principle is the same as if you were citing a different page in a book: Short form + identification of the new "specific item."

 

Submitted byF.T.C.on Sun, 10/23/2022 - 17:57

Thanks so much, EE, especially for explaining the reasoning underlying your answers!

Best wishes,

F.T.C.