1887 Denver Directory Volume I
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The 1887 Denver Directory Volume I The Denver Directory Indexed by Name Charles O Brantigan, Editor Nathan Zeschin, Associate Editor Canzona Publications 2253 Downing St Denver, Colorado 80205 303 830 8822 Copyright 2002 Introduction or Readme file README file Editor’s Introduction to the 1887 Denver Directory Information Needed to Effectively Use this Reference Set Do not assume that if you have used the 1893 Denver Directory that the rules are the same. City directories contain a wealth of information which is statistical, biographical and sociological, collected at a time that such data was not generally analyzed. With some imagination, a city directory can be considered a data base. The problem is that there is no way to access this information except by name. If you don’t know the name you are out of luck. What if you want to know who lived next door? What if you want to know who worked for a given company? What if you want some information about who else lived at the same address? Were there servants? Did the person share his residence with other people? If so who? This reference set allows access to all of this material, or at least what of it was collected in the original directory. In order to use it well, however, the researcher must understand how it was created. The alphabetical listing of the directory, (Volume I) is considered to be the original volume. The other volumes are considered as derivative volumes, a distinction which is important. In The 1893 Denver Directory1 all volumes are derivative volumes, derived from the data which had been manually entered into a database. This data base has been created by electronically scanning an original 1887 Denver Directory provided by the Western History Collection of the Denver Public Library. To use computer lexicon, each listing in the Directory is considered to be a “record.” The data were then corrected by hand, one record at a time, by comparing the data on the screen with the original directory. Other corrections were made as errors were encountered. A sampling of the business directory at the back of the original volume suggested that essentially all entries also appeared in one form or another in the main directory, so these entries were not added to the data base. This is a difference between these data and those published previously for 1893. The original order of listings was preserved in the Alphabetical listing, another difference between these data and those previously published for 1893. Data elements from each record were then split into individual data “fields” and then processed. The computer was instructed to change all listings in upper case letters to a standard upper case for the first letter and lower case for subsequent letters. While this eliminated some of the problems caused by all upper case listings, it added some additional problems with names with an upper case letter within the name, such as MacDonald, which is now translated to Macdonald or McNany which now reads Mcnany (If you need to know if it is Macdonald or MacDonald, consult the alphabetical listing and you will see what the editors in 1887 thought was correct). The process of working with the data identified more errors which were then corrected. An attempt was made to correct inconsistencies and to make abbreviations and spellings consistent. When, in the course of this process, something peculiar was identified and was confirmed in the original volume it was marked with “[sic].” Thus there is a “Symes blk” and a “Smyes blk [sic].” Maybe they are the same and maybe they are not. Names, names of companies, street names and spellings and abbreviations generally appear in the alphabetical volume, Volume I, as they did in the original. Changes were made in the derivative volumes. Entries in the derivative volumes are truncated as necessary. Bernard Speier’s occupation is “painter, paper hanger, wall paper, window glass and p….” That’s enough of an occupation for anyone. If you need to know the rest consult Volume I. There is no question that the best access to these data is by the use of a computer. The computer adds additional complexity, however. To begin with the original directory is not really a data base. Each listing in the directory can be considered a “record.” Each record is delimited by a period, or at least the vast 1. Brantigan, Charles, The 1893 Denver Directory, Canzona Publications 1993. Page 2 majority are. Some are not and then appear merged with the next record. Hopefully all of these run-ons have been corrected. Data elements in each entry or “record” are not consistent. The number of data elements or “fields” in each record is not the same, although fortunately the data elements of each record are usually in the same order. There are names without addresses, for example. There are also names with more than one address. Sometimes occupation is listed and sometimes it is not. Some addresses in Highlands are identified as being in Highlands and some are not. Residents of other towns such as North Denver, Elyria, Berkeley, and others not incorporated into Denver by 1887 may or may not be listed at all. Consistency is important to computers and variations in spelling or use of inconsistent abbreviations make the data appear in, perhaps, unexpected places, depending on the spelling. Entries for "L'Imperial Hotel," "The L'Imperial Hotel," "Hotel L'Imperial" and "Imperial Hotel," for example, will all appear in different locations when sorted by the computer. There is no consistency in street names. Does “Eighteenth” mean “Eighteenth Ave” or “Eighteenth Street.” Sometimes it is specified and sometimes it is not clear. When obvious problems were identified that were not easily interpreted, street names were left as in the original. Consistency corrections have been made in the derivative data bases, but not in the alphabetical listing. In editing this data base we have tried to make all of the data elements fit, but there will always be information in the first volume not in subsequent volumes. Errors in the data, both in the original directory and additional errors which we have undoubtedly contributed in spite of our best efforts, complicate things further. All information in the derivative volumes of this edition of the directory are sorted by the computer. The contents of the “name” field, for example, is considered by the computer to be one long word. That means that all numbers, symbols, letters, and even blank spaces have a defined place in the computer's alphabet. Thus, "Smith, James", is different than "Smith James" (both comma and space are considered characters in the long word). "Smith, james" is different from both (to a computer the small case letter is different that the upper case letter). If by accident the there is a space before the name, it will appear in an entirely different location. The data is sorted in accord with the ASCII Character Table. The ASCII "alphabet", if you will, is: [blank space] ! " # $ % & ' ( ) * + , - . / 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 : ; < = > ? @ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z [ \ ^ _ ` a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z then foreign and graphic symbols. The result of this alphabet is that entries are not in the same order as they appeared in the original directory. Most confusing to people not used to computers is the fact that all capital letters come before any small letters. For this reason "Smith, Thomas" comes before "Smith, allen" in the ASCII alphabet. Street numbers are bigger problem, as they are not in strict numeric format. How do you arrange 425; 1,356; 5 to 6; and 2123-25 in numeric order. You don’t. You arrange them in alpha order. (1,356; 2123-25; 425; 5 to 6). Street numbers are sorted as though they were words rather than numbers. Thus 1006 comes before 101. There are 3 volumes in this reference set: Volume I: The Denver Directory of 1887 Arranged Alphabetically Volume II: The Denver Directory of 1887 Arranged by Address Volume III: Statistical Abstract of Denver 1887 Volume I: The Denver Directory of 1887 Arranged Alphabetically All volumes of this edition of directory are important. Volume I: The Denver Directory of 1887 Arranged Alphabetically is a reproduction of the original directory and should be considered the most accurate and complete listing of any record. We have made the attempt to reproduce the data exactly, and have even copied some obvious mistakes. Since the data was obtained by scanning and not by manual entry, as was the case with the 1893 Directory, we have produced the entire volume, absent advertising. The serious researcher should confirm information from the derivative volumes in Volume I, as there might be additional information, or the researcher might not agree with some of the changes made in the information in the name of error correction or consistency. Note that there are additional listings in a section of the book for entries received too late for incorporation into the text and these entries have not Page 3 been added to the text. Again, this is a departure from the precedent established in the 1893 Directory, and it was done to preserve the original order in the alphabetical volume. Volume II: The Denver Directory of 1887 Arranged by Address In contrast to Volume I, Volume II contains significant editorial changes.