Compiled by Lois M. Barris
This file was extracted from the newspapers on microfilm in the microform collection at D A Reed Library on the campus of New York State University College at Fredonia. It includes births deaths and marriages reported in the Fredonia Censor from Wednesday Jan 2, 1900 to Wednesday, May 12, 1926. This extraction was discontinued on that date After that since most such events were also reported in the Evening Observer, published daily in nearby Dunkirk NY…………
The list, arranged alphabetically was generated to assist genealogical researchers in tracing family relationships, and as an index to locate an original obituary or report of the marriage or birth. All entries include six columns: 1) the full name, 2) a key to the event: B=birth, D=death, and M= marriage; 3) the date of the event; 4) the location of the event (usually, but not always) city & state; 5) comments (here I have used a different format for each type of event) and 6) the date of publication of the Censor issue from which that entry was noted………………
Included in the comment column for a death is the place and date of birth, parents names and name of spouse. The maiden name of mother and wife is in parentheses. If the surname of the parent(s) is the same as that of the deceased, that surname will not be repeated in column 5. The last item in a death record is usually the place of burial, often abbreviated such as FH for Forest Hill Cemetery in Fredonia. Comment for a birth will be the name (including mother\’s maiden name) of the parents, and their address, perhaps a reference to the local grandparents. Some marriages are entered twice in the alphabetic listing, under the surname of each the bride and the groom. When the alphabetic listing is given only for the groom, the bride\’s name will appear in the collateral surname index starting on page 194…………….
This index to collateral surnames is only intended to guide the researcher to those names not listed alphabetically. Included here are maiden names of the mother of a birth, the mother and wife in an obituary, and the names of parents of a bride or groom if that name is different than the one in the alphabetic listing. This is not an every name index so the researcher should look over every entry related to the surname indexed…………..
Researchers with a particular interest in an event noted in this index will find much more information by looking up the original notice in the Censor, using column six as a guide. The Censor is available on microfilm at Reed Library on the campus of New York State University College at Fredonia. It may be helpful to also look for information on the same event in the indexes to the Dunkirk Evening Observer. These indexes and the Observer on microfilm will also be found in the Microforms Room at Reed Library……………..
Lois Barris….
August 2001…
Warnings and Abbreviations……..
The newspaper from which these records were extracted was replete with error and these errors may be perpetuated herein. The person transcribing the records is not infallible and typographical errors may appear. This work, then, should be used as a guide for genealogists and not accepted as final proof of a name or date……….
To get as much information as possible into the one-line format, many abbreviations were used. Some of these follow. In many cases, not on this list, vowels were omitted from a word to fit it in. The researcher must then use all powers of imagination and intuition to decipher the code. Standard name abreviations were used: Thos=Thomas, Wm=William, Chas=Charles, Geo=George, Alexr=Alexander, etc…….
Place abbreviations:
BFLO = Buffalo,
DUNK or DK = Dunkirk,
FRED or FR = Fredonia,
GWNDA = Gowanda,
JSTWN = Jamestown,
SIL CR = Silver Creek,
VL = ville as in Forestville or Mayville,
WSTFLD = Westfield,
Other frequently used abbreviations:
b = born,
d = died,
ggpar = great grandparents,
gpar = grandparents,
h = husband,
M/M = Mr & Mrs,
par or p = parents,
res = resident of, or residing,
son/dau = son of/daughter of,
/before a surname = Mrs w = wife,
The two letter postal abbreviation was used for states.
