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I have begun working my way through a large estate case file of 54 loose documents. My ancestor disappeared from home at age 84, apparently was never found, and subsequently was declared deceased.
The document I would like to cite is a MISSING! $1,000 REWARD poster dated 31 January 1920.
Some information: Erie County Surrogate's Court estate files older than 1973 are stored off-site and are retrievable for viewing through the Surrogate's Court Record Room in Buffalo. Case files are organized by, and requested by, the deceased's name [Hickler, John] and the filing date of the Petition for Probate of Will [12 July 1918].
My first attempt at citing this document appears below. I used EE 8.19, 8.20 and 10.31 as models. I will use similar formatting for the balance of the documents in the case file. Am I on the right track? Is the Petition year [full date?] necessary in the reference note since it is required when requesting the off-site packet?
Source List Entry: New York. Erie County. Estate Case Files. Surrogate's Court Record Room, Buffalo. First Reference Note: 1. Erie County, New York, Estate Case File #57491, 1918, John Hickler, Missing! $1,000 Reward poster, 31 January 1920; Surrogate's Court Record Room, Buffalo. Subsequent Note: 11. Erie Co., N.Y., estate case file #57491, Missing!.
GenealogyDoug,
GenealogyDoug,
Interesting document! Case files with 54 documents are always a wonderful find, but they can generate a lot of citation variances. EE sees three small tweaks you might like to consider:
1. Because public records frequently are moved, EE 8.16 recommends that we cite the agency or the office that has responsibility for the records, rather than the building or a room.
2. For clarity, EE would put quotation marks around the three words you are apparently quoting from the top of that poster—i.e., "Missing! $1,000 Reward." (EE's interpretation of your citation is that the quoted words do begin with "Missing" rather than "John Hickler.")
3. For the short citation, EE would retain John Hickler's name to help yourself and your future readers mentally associate the short cite with its full citation. For most people, names are much easier to remember than numbers are. Conversely, numbers are easily mistyped and one typo in a file number that doesn't identify a person could create a significant problem.
Thank you so much for your
Thank you so much for your helpful comments. I should have attached the poster so you can see just how wonderful a find it truly is! I nearly leapt off my chair in the record room when I unfolded it! Enjoy!
Since I'll eventually be sourcing nearly every document in the estate file, let me see if I understand your tweaks:
1. Since the county is already named after New York as the state, Surrogate's Court should suffice as the repository (not Erie County Surrogate's Court). Any researcher would be able to track down the documents wherever the Surrogate's Court (the repository) is located within the county, currently Buffalo. The Record Room may not exist, but the Court will.
2. I initially had quotation marks around "Missing! $1,000 Reward." However, something caught my eye in EE that made me think I should not include them (of course, I cannot find that reference now). Including them does indicate the lead elements on the poster. I understand that other documents with specific titles, such as Proof of Will, Order Denying Motion, and Petition for Probate of Will, would not have quotation marks and would be set in lower case.
3. For the short note, including the name of the person makes sense. If it would be unclear to the reader which document within the estate file I was citing, would I also (or rather?) include the title of the document?
Thank you for providing these forums - I'm learning so much!
Even after reading the other
Even after reading the other forum posts, I still need clarification on citing loose probate papers that were moved to a county archive. After reading EE 10.36, I've come up with the following citations:
Source List entry: New York. Westchester County. Surrogate Records, 1787-1983; Series 171, Estate Inventories. Westchester County Archives, White Plains.
First Reference Note: Westchester County, New York, Surrogate Records, 1787-1983, Series 171, James Baisley, Estate Inventory A0303(36)L, folder 7, 1897-16; Westchester County Archives, White Plains, New York.
Subsequent Note: Westchester Co., NY, Surrogate Records, Estate Inventory A0303(36)L, folder 7, 1897-16.
But I'm wondering if I need all the information I've listed or is citing "James Baisley, Estate Inventory A0303(36)L, folder 7, 1987-16" sufficient. I did locate the records through an online personal name index which gave me the estate inventory, but I had to search the archive site in order to find that the records were part of Series 171 of the Surrogate Records, 1787-1983. Thoughts or advice?
Thank you.
Hiztorybuff
Actually, I need to clarify a
Actually, I need to clarify a bit: Series 171 is The Surrogate Records Index, 1787-1983. Series 16 is the Estate Records 1775, 1782-1921, which is indexed BY Series 171. All of the records belong to Record Group 4-Judiciary of the Archives. However, all of this I had to dig out from the archive website. I actually used the Series 171 Surrogate Records Index to find my ancestor and file number in order to obtain copies of the 74 pages of loose papers.
Hiztorybuff
Hiztorybuff,
Hiztorybuff,
If you are actually citing the index, then you would cite the record group in which the index is found. If you are citing an actual file, then you should cite the RG in which the files appear. (As a corollary, when we cite something from a book, we cite the page number on which the item appears; we don't cite the page number of the index entry that led us to the actual page.)
Your form for the rest of the three citation formats appears logical. EE's only tweak would be to retain the name of the file, as well as the number, in the short form. Two reasons exist: (1) When typing numbers, it's very easy to make a typo. (2) For readers of your work, citing the name would have more meaning that citing a number with no indication of whose file is involved.
As for whether the short form might simply say "James Baisley, Estate Inventory A0303(36)L, folder 7, 1987-16," we certainly see that kind of short form in many works of history and genealogy. Let's turn the issue around, though. If you picked up a book in which a note on p. 327 said "James Baisley, Estate Inventory A0303(36)L, folder 7, 1987-16," would you want to comb the footnotes to 326 preceding pages, in search of the first reference to that estate inventory so that you would know where the file was?
Thank you for such a quick
Thank you for such a quick response! To further clarify, I found the file number in an index, but I have obtained copies of the actual file contents (loose papers); so it sounds like I should cite the Record Group 4 and possibly the subgroup, Series 16 Estate Records.
Yes.
Yes.