This was done to save space and money. 4. Many cities have an introduction which includes information about the city's government offices and listings of churches, cemeteries, schools, businesses, etc. Some directories list a wife in parenthesis or whether a woman is a widow (including name of husband); a list of marriages and deaths of previous year; and death date. Have you ever looked at a City Directory, seen an “r” or an “h” and just assumed it meant ‘rented’ or ‘home?’ Well they don’t! Some city directories list adult children who … Below is a reference list of the most common abbreviations found in city directories. The GenealogyInTime Magazine offers us a list of common abbreviations used those publications, as well as a list of first name abbreviations, and occupation abbreviations. google_ad_client = "pub-5311404976636379"; Some abbreviations are quite common, such as h for home or r, indicating residence. ... it is important to refer to the page showing abbreviations used in the book. The first City Directory for Hagerstown, Maryland was published by John Randall in 1893. There may even be a subtle distinction between r for residents who are related to the homeowner and b for boarders who are not related. • If no identifier is given after an address, it is assumed to be a street. 1881 Census of Canada. What is in a city directory? Back in 1938 in New Haven, Connecticut this was considered public information. google_ad_width = 336; To conserve space for each listing, city directories often use abbreviations. A key to the abbreviations used for occupations and personal names is often near the front of the directory. , Home | Search | Records | Articles | About Some city directories list adult children who … From about 1885 forward, the collection is complete for every year, with an annual city directory for Seattle and its environs. Some census records also abbreviate occupations due to the lack of space on census forms. Well, you haven't. – “eodem” (the same). Another reason you may not recognize a particular occupation is that abbreviations are and were commonly used in many records and documents. This has come in handy for tracking down mysterious ancestors. Abbreviations used in the directory are listed at the beginning of the alphabetical name listing in each directory. Each directory listed the name of a resident, an address, and sometimes more information, such as a person’s occupation. The Web's largest and most authoritative acronyms and abbreviations resource. 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