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Archiver > TMG > 2006-11 > 1162402032


From: Lee Hoffman <>
Subject: Re: [TMG] Place Style questions
Date: Wed, 01 Nov 2006 12:27:12 -0500
References: <001901c6fdc6$4fc9e060$6501a8c0@MichaelDell>
In-Reply-To: <001901c6fdc6$4fc9e060$6501a8c0@MichaelDell>


Michael J Dietz wrote:
> Is it possible to have two or more place styles to handle the same
> address? For instance I have the address Prince George's County,
> Maryland. Suppose I want to have a colonial place style where
> State is given as Province and the normal style where State is
> State. The contents of the two addresses would be the same but TMG
> will only allow one place style for the identical addresses. I
> could list the colonial one as Province of Maryland or Maryland
> Province but that does seem a bit of overkill.

You cannot have two places that are the same with two different
Places Styles -- normally. If the places are slightly different
(even just one character) then the places are different and may have
different Place Styles. So in the case of:
Prince Georges County, [State of ]Maryland, USA
and
Prince Georges County, [Colony of]Maryland, British Colony of America

(or similar entries), then you have two different places [the same
location but with different names, based on time in this case]. In
such cases, you may have a different Place Style for each.

However, you cannot have:
Prince Georges County, [State of ]Maryland, USA
and
Prince Georges County, [State of ]Maryland, USA
with different Place Styles -- normally.

Note that I again include the word "normally". What I mean here is
that with a little work and "subterfuge" you can have two place
entries in the Master Place List (MPL) that are the same except for
the Place Style being different. For example, you could have the
following entries:
Prince Georges County, [State of ]Maryland, USA
Prince Georges County, [State of ]Maryland, -USA
These are the same except that you have excluded the country in the
second entry. This is seen by TMG as a different place and thus the
two entries can have different Place Styles. Now if you then go to
the MPL, edit the second entry by removing the Exclusion Marker from
the Country field, TMG will continue to allow two different Place
Styles for apparently the same place -- even if you Optimize the
project (File=>Maintenance menu).

Note here that you will have two of the same entry in the MPL and can
select either as you wish. HOWEVER, there is nothing in the MPL to
denote which has Place Style A and which has Place Style B. You may
be able to determine through trial and error which one is which by
position, but positioning is not guaranteed to remain the same from
one display to another -- especially after other places are entered
or changed. So if you do this work-around, I would caution you that
it also may not work as anticipated in future releases of TMG.

>And the nitpicking one. Maryland declared its independence as a
>colony in 1776. It did not ratify the Constitution until 1788 at
>which time it became a state. What was it in the period 1776 to 1788?

Ooohh! You are nit-picking. <g> Essentially the same applies to
the other twelve colonies who along with Maryland became the thirteen
original states. I think most people consider that it was a state
upon declaring its independence. The Declaration itself said that
the colonies were states -- each free and independent. I suppose the
meaning of the word "state" in that context was that each was "a
politically organized body of people occupying a specific
territory". In this context, the mother country (Britain) was (is)
also a "state". Thus, the colonies were states but not in the same
meaning as a member State of the United States although each was a
state. Note the subtlety of a lower case state and an upper case
State. In fact, I feel sure that each state considered themselves as
an independent country -- somewhat subservient to the Continental
Congress for a time by way of necessity. In this case, the necessity
was "my enemy is your enemy" and we ought to support each other. The
long range outlook was that after the fighting was over, Maryland
(pick your colony/state/country) would be on their own like France,
Spain, etc. and all the others would also be equally on their own.

Having said all this, while the U. S. Constitution was not adopted
until 1788 (later depending on the individual state), there was a de
facto constitution in the form of the Articles of Confederation. It
was adopted in 1777 becoming operative in 1781. However, it also
used the word "state" in the political sense and declared that each
of the 13 states were independent and were cooperating through being
contiguous and having the same goals. This Articles of Confederation
was for that time similar to the League of Nations formed after World
War I. It was, in effect, just a treaty between the 13 governments (states).

So, with this in mind (and to get to what you question was about), I
ignore the time between 1776 and 1788 as being anything other than a
temporary thing. Thus, for me, the USA was effectively formed in
1776 (it just took 12 years to settle the fact). But, I would not
argue that Maryland (or any of the other twelve) was not a country in
its own right during that time. I am just nor sure that the
distinction is all that important. I suppose that there may be some
reasons for noting the difference, but most people don't see it that way.

Hope this helps -

Lee Hoffman/KY
TMG Tips: <http://www.tmgtips.com>;
My website: <http://www.tmgtips.com/lhoffman>;
A user of the best genealogy program, The Master Genealogist (TMG)


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