Monday, June 23, 2014

Mercer Logs, 3



Saturday Jan 8, 1876
This day begins with the wind SSE moderate. Finished the garden fence. John went to the ? got her as far as Cat Fish bend. ???? Harnessed ? in the plow, plowed furrows for the potatoes and melons. Ned and Tom planted potatoes and melons. John Reynolds planted seeds. All hands done a good day’s work. The women folks all busy sewing. Frank farming in his garden. Day ends wind SE pleasant.

Back to working on the Mercer Log project. One of the issues that I have to decide on is how to handle the words and phrases in the log that can not be read. As you see here question marks have been substituted for words that were un-readable. Which boat did John go to? Who did the harnessing and what was the animal's name that was harnessed. Is there a standard way to handle issues like this?

4 comments:

  1. Use an asterisk instead of a question mark.

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    1. Red shoes, you will be my authority on such issues. In the book an asterisk can be used.

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  2. You can write [indecipherable] but if you've researched it, you can add a footnote with an educated guess. Dianne

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    Replies
    1. Ahh, Another writer helping me out. Thank you.

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