Genealogy.com versus Ancestry.com (J b)

[ajhattorf]

Hi John
Nice to hear from you. Yes at the present time i am sitting hear headbanging
against my beautiful new screen. lol.

This is true each provider has some datas that others dont have .... and so
i hoped to find someone in the list who may take a look on Julia Hattorff at
genealogy.com. Very well knowing that in perhaps half a year or perhaps one
year those datas might be suddenly available at ancestry.com too. But who has
all the time of the world to sit here and wait when there are so many
questions about those family secrets.

I have meanwhile a pretty collection of misspellings of my name, which is
surely not complete. Let me give you an example i have found Pauline Hattorff
and her children in 1908 searching at Ellis Island. As i found them there they
were misspelled as Hattarf what is close to the real name.

Now that ancestry has taken the datas from Ellis too, i wondered why i cant
find Pauline in 1908. So i was looking exactly the date on which i found them
at Ellis Island and what did i found at ancestry.com. She is misspelled as
Pauline Hallanf what a beautiful new version.

Ok enjoy my little horror shop this is what i really found till today at
ancestry.com and under all those name real Hattorf(f) s are hidden:

Vn hattore, Haltorf, Hatorff, Huttorf, Hartthorff, Hatton, Hatterf,
Hattoff, Hatorf, Hatturff, Hatlorf, Holtorf, Fattore, Hattorp, Hattori,
Hattory, Hattorss, Haltfor, Hattery, Hallorf, Hatoff, Hattorfff,
Hatdorf, Hallanf, Hattorg, Hattdorf.
So have a nice ancestry hunt
Armin

[J_B]

Armin bless your soul. All those names amount to additional stars you can proudly wear on your chest, like so many medallions of honor (much like those burly old Soviet Generals used to be adorned with - it was a wonder they didn't fall over). If you were Mormon, you'd be pulling each and every one of those Hattorfs in through the gates with you, you know that don't you? So be proud and smile, at least when you're headbanging.

I personally have no subscription to genealogy.com. If I can tap someone locally who does, we'll look that one up for you.

Now in a serious vein, while it is prudent to look into each and every name that appears to have a possible connection to your Hattorfs, be careful in overdoing it my friend. Why do I say this? Because for many years I have had access to a gamut of private databases here in the States that I use in my line of work. If anyone truly knew just how many folks carry surnames just like their own - even when it comes to relatively "rare" names - they would be truly astounded. Multiply that by all the generations that preceded our present one, all of which are now part of the massive record colossus that is slowly coming together. There is your little shop of horrors! lol

There are so many possibilities out there that it would be quite easy to waste time going down snaky, fruitless trails, especially if you do not hone in on what the familial evidence before you points most logically to. Therefore, my advice is to stay as "on track" as much as possible, even when "bridging the waters." In your case though, I have to admit you are doing the best you can to filter the pearls from the rough with all the Hattorfs you find, and in fact may be putting together the most comprehensive Hattorf collection anywhere. At this rate, you may have all the Yankee Hattorfs sorted and placed also!

This naturally does not apply to anyone looking to chronicle a given surname across geographical spheres, for the sake of statistically documenting a given surname. But if the goal is to document your own clan, as it will be for most, then better to work backwards (or in your case forward) with concrete facts in hand than reaching out and clutching for names that only appear similar. 9 out of 10 times those kinds of reaches will lead nowhere (disregard this if you are at a complete dead end, and have nothing but straws to clutch at). Perhaps the only area where this advice does not actually apply is in open-ended Internet searches, where the joker remains wild. There anything goes! Any wonder why Google has that button "Feeling lucky?"

Yes at the present time i am sitting hear headbanging
against my beautiful new screen. lol.

And be careful, those monitors break easy and aren't cheap. I know.

Grab a beer instead. A J�germeister, that'll do the trick.

Jb

[J_B]

Armin I forgot to ask you: do you think all the Hattorfs <var> you have found in the US are connected (or connectable) to your Hattorf line there in Germany? I know you have made quite a few connections, in most commendable fashion, but do you suspect they are all related, or only a portion?

Just curious, since you have done remarkably well in what you've accomplished so far.

Cavebound again. Jb