Genealogist explains challenges uncovering Revolutionary-era records

Genealogist Jane Sellery guided seven researchers through the challenges of tracing Revolutionary War–era Salisbury residents during a program at Scoville Memorial Library on Thursday, Jan. 29.

The session was the second in a series tied to Salisbury READS, a community reading program centered on “Revolution Song” by Russell Shorto. The program is sponsored by the library and the Salisbury Association Historical Society.

Participants researched individuals whose gravestones are located in the cemetery behind Salisbury Town Hall, uncovering firsthand the complications that often arise in historical records.

Tracy Flynn of Salisbury researched Jacob Davis — who was also known as Jacobus Davis — and found that even basic identification can be difficult. In addition to variant spellings, Flynn discovered what appeared to be two men with the same name, likely father and son. One Jacob Davis lived from 1737 to 1797, while the second lived from 1762 to 1841, spanning the Revolutionary War period and beyond.

Sellery said such confusion is common. Birth and death dates can be hard to read on worn gravestones, and even when legible, the dates do not always match written records.

Census records present additional challenges.

Sellery noted that the 1900 census is often off by one year, depending on whether a person was born before or after June 1. Wording also matters: a record stating someone was “in the 68th year” means the person was 67 at the time.

The 1890 census is largely unavailable due to a warehouse fire in St. Louis that destroyed most of the records.

Other obstacles include inconsistent name spellings — such as “Hayes” and “Hays” — difficult handwriting, and records written in foreign languages or alphabets. Sellery said artificial intelligence can help in some cases, such as translating images of documents written in the Cyrillic alphabet.

Addressing immigration records, Sellery said the popular belief that officials routinely Anglicized immigrants’ names is largely inaccurate. Facilities such as Ellis Island relied on passenger manifests from incoming ships, which did not always match later naturalization records.

“It wasn’t, ‘Okay, we’re going to make you Green,’” Sellery said.

She added that some immigrants intentionally changed or concealed their identities, while others adopted American-sounding names to assimilate. In the 1920s, name changes became more common amid fears of prejudice, a trend that reversed in the 1930s and 1940s.