Tech Forum

Does anyone know how to correctly designate a person being born in Washington DC?

According to the Standard Finder used in nFS, it's "Washington, District of Columbia, United States "

Thanks... During this Tithing Settlement, I decided to standardize everyone's Birthplace. I found that many times county was designated, that states were abbreviated, etc... That one I had a hard time figuring out... now of course it seems obvious, thanks.

jshawut wrote:Thanks... During this Tithing Settlement, I decided to standardize everyone's Birthplace. I found that many times county was designated, that states were abbreviated, etc... That one I had a hard time figuring out... now of course it seems obvious, thanks.

Keep in mind that some cities do NOT have counties associated. Most Virginia cities are considered "independent", as are Baltimore, MD, and at least one other city on our records.

If in doubt look up the city itself (Wikipedia is handy).

geek wrote:Keep in mind that some cities do NOT have counties associated. Most Virginia cities are considered "independent", as are Baltimore, MD, and at least one other city on our records.

Also, cities overlap county boundaries in most states, so just knowing the city does not guarantee that the birthplace was in a particular county. And city boundaries often change over time, counties much less frequently.

(In a first-class Virgiinia city, the answer is easy: The city is functionally the same as a county, has its own courthouse, etc., so the city name is also listed as the county.)

I have found the following WEBSITE helpful in narrowing down a county when correcting membership records.

RussellHltn wrote:According to the Standard Finder used in nFS, it's "Washington, District of Columbia, United States "

Just a note about the Standard Finder: It has a hard time with (independent) cities and counties in the same state that have the same name. E.g. there is Baltimore City and Baltimore County in Maryland; St. Louis and St. Louis in Missouri, and many (though not all) of the independent cities in Virginia. I've been trying to clean up my PAF file, and every time a place comes up in one of those counties, it tries to lump that place into the independent city.