The Howells-Frost Database
Margaret loved her family and genealogy. We began this endeavor well before the age of the home computer and long before the internet. We worked on our separate families. Our children learned to accept visits to cemeteries or “boneyards'”, musty basements of county courthouses, and many local libraries. On the job training and many spiral bound notebooks. Nothing formal. There was no such thing at the time.
When computers came along, it obviously helped. The notable exception in those early programs was the limited ability, or inability, to record sources. We're all guilty to some degree and things were allowed to slide even though there were reams of collected notes and research materials. As software matured, numerous early entries were simply allowed to go un-sourced, or meaningless sources were recorded.
I have reviewed Margaret's data, expanded it in many areas and cleaned it up in others. I've answered many of her questions but have more research to do in areas I know perplexed her.
For those meaningless, non-descript, sources: IGI, rootweb, etc. I removed them! Some may not agree, but the information was kept intact to preserve her intentions. Hopefully enough background is present to allow further expansion if warranted. Other sources were expanded dramatically. She did a lot of meaningful work. I simply tried to make it more clear.
I have used conventions here as I have used in my own data. Surnames are in all capital letters. If there is a question as to name accuracy, the name is enclosed in parenthesis. FNU, for the uninitiated, means 'first name unknown'. Where you might come across a year enclosed within parenthesis following an occupation, the census of that year was consulted, or another source such as a death certificate, marriage record, etc. Occasionally you may come across terms such as POB, POD, DOB, and DOD in some event notes. Read it simply as: place of birth, place of death, date of birth, and date of death, etc.
I have not included family or individual notes within these files. Typically I have reserved these for random research notes and listings of the census pages or other materials consulted for the families or individuals at hand. Occasionally there is meaningful information included beyond that mentioned. I would be happy to supply any note material to interested researchers.
I wish you success in your research.
Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions.
Jim Ball