Daily Ancestorbds.
bds. in a city directory means boards: the person boarded at that address instead of keeping his or her own house.
City directories saved space with short forms explained in a key at the front. In R. L. Polk's 1886-7 Bay City directory, bds stands for boards, and res for resides.
So a young man listed as clerk, bds 18 Water St. was a boarder rather than a householder. Search the directory and the census for who else lived at that address.
As seen in a recordEntry in a city directory
Fenwick Otis, clerk, bds 214 Grant
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "bds.." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/abbreviations/bds. Last checked 2026-10-12.