We all know how Nancy Drew spells her name. Or do we? What if you found "Nanci Dru" listed in the census instead of our known spelling? Would it throw you for a loop? Perplex you? Or would you find it somewhat interesting? Hopefully you would find it interesting, because you will come across many "misspelled" names in genealogy. Remember, though, that the "correct" spelling of names did not really become important until this past century. Most people could not read or write (check out some of your ancestors in the census and see if they could). Some could not even speak English (again, if you have any immigrant relatives, see what their census information says). Therefore, most names were written down the way they sounded. And when you add in people of different parts of the country writing down the names they hear other people saying, you have the perfect recipe for "misspelled" names.
Some misspellings are just by one letter. In the 1900 census, my husband's great-grandfather's family is listed as Burnett. In 1910, an e was added to the end. But in 1920, it was back to Burnett. Other misspellings are downright crazy. I know I've mentioned my husband's Polish side of the family. Take the name Gonsiewski. In 1910, it appears as Gonsiewski, but in 1930, we get Gasiewski. The craziest is the name Bednarczyk. In 1910, we have Brnardszyk! A 1931 Syracuse City directory spelled the name as Bednarezwk! But if you pronounced those different spellings with a Polish accent, they would all sound similar.
So how would Nanci Dru go about finding her ancestors? I think she would get creative and start misspelling all the names. Type in the known spelling in a search box, then go back and try a "misspelled" name. Change the y to an i, an ew to a u. A name starts with an L? Try searching with a P instead (this worked with another family name, Lara. The L in the census is rather loopy-looking, like a P. Because of this, it was indexed as Para instead). If you have immigrants in your family, do a little research on the native spellings and pronunciations of that language. That will help when you search for an anglicized form of the name. And like Nancy Drew, keep investigating!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Nancy Drew and the case of the Kate Middletons
I saw an article a few days ago introducing other "Kate Middletons", those who are having a difficult time with using their given name right now because it's also the name of the future Princess of Wales. It's a reminder that there will always be people with the same name, especially in family trees. There is a wonderful legacy in passing on your name to one of your children. But it can also create chaos in research, particularly if the family has an obsession with the same name.
My husband's mother's family is the perfect example of a naming obsession. In fact, not just the family, but the entire Polish community of which they were a part. Johns, Stanleys, Peters, and Marys all abound in the census records. The only way to tell them apart is by their birthdays! As I mentioned in my last post, you want to have a paper trail to prove your information about your relatives. That paper trail is even more important when talking about relatives with the same name.
Now most family trees only include direct ancestors. Most others I know who research genealogy do not even include the siblings of an ancestor. I beg to differ. Though I do not include the children of those siblings, including the siblings of ancestors helps to correctly identify your direct ancestors, especially if it is family tradition to use the same names in each generation. It will help to know if the document you are looking at pertains to John your great-grandfather, John your 2nd cousin twice removed, or an unrelated John. Having the names and dates of siblings helps to identify your ancestor from among the unrelated people who have the same name. Using siblings is the only way I have been able to correctly identify my great-great grandfather. Another person with his same name was born 2 years after him in the same part of Kentucky. Not only that, they appear in the same county in the census! The only way to tell them apart was by using my knowledge of his siblings. He was living with his sister at the time. The other was living with his parents and a slew of siblings whose names did not match the names of my great-great grandfather's siblings. How confusing!
Besides helping identify the correct ancestor, sibling's names can also be used to find information about your ancestor. There may be an obituary about a sibling that mentions your direct ancestor, or a sibling's will leaving something to your ancestor. Google the sibling's name to see what come up. But never underestimate the power of knowing the names of siblings! They are an important piece of the puzzle identifying your ancestor from the other "Kate Middletons."
My husband's mother's family is the perfect example of a naming obsession. In fact, not just the family, but the entire Polish community of which they were a part. Johns, Stanleys, Peters, and Marys all abound in the census records. The only way to tell them apart is by their birthdays! As I mentioned in my last post, you want to have a paper trail to prove your information about your relatives. That paper trail is even more important when talking about relatives with the same name.
Now most family trees only include direct ancestors. Most others I know who research genealogy do not even include the siblings of an ancestor. I beg to differ. Though I do not include the children of those siblings, including the siblings of ancestors helps to correctly identify your direct ancestors, especially if it is family tradition to use the same names in each generation. It will help to know if the document you are looking at pertains to John your great-grandfather, John your 2nd cousin twice removed, or an unrelated John. Having the names and dates of siblings helps to identify your ancestor from among the unrelated people who have the same name. Using siblings is the only way I have been able to correctly identify my great-great grandfather. Another person with his same name was born 2 years after him in the same part of Kentucky. Not only that, they appear in the same county in the census! The only way to tell them apart was by using my knowledge of his siblings. He was living with his sister at the time. The other was living with his parents and a slew of siblings whose names did not match the names of my great-great grandfather's siblings. How confusing!
Besides helping identify the correct ancestor, sibling's names can also be used to find information about your ancestor. There may be an obituary about a sibling that mentions your direct ancestor, or a sibling's will leaving something to your ancestor. Google the sibling's name to see what come up. But never underestimate the power of knowing the names of siblings! They are an important piece of the puzzle identifying your ancestor from the other "Kate Middletons."
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Nancy Drew and the Burden of Proof
Can you imagine if Nancy Drew made an accusation against the bad guy without having any sort of proof? Her case against them would not hold up in court, much to the embarrassment of her father who just happens to be an attorney. I'm pretty certain her father would want to see the paper trail!
And so it is with genealogy. It is easy to claim someone as an ancestor without having the proof. There are many family trees available on the internet, but not many have the documents to back it up. We need to see the paper trail! Ancestry.com is a great place to get started on your family tree [I am in no way compensated for promoting Ancestry.com (though if they're reading this... :) ). I find their subscription service to be very helpful in locating documents pertaining to my ancestors]. But, caveat emptor! It is easy to get excited and carried away in searching for ancestors, especially when you have found a gem of an ancestor, and click on every other person's own family tree to add their information to yours without verifying the facts. I have done this with my own tree (though I am going back to find the paper trail for each person)! If I had taken my time with each person to find my proof, instead of letting the excitement of the moment get to me, I would be saving myself a lot of time now.
What do genealogists use as proof? Census documents are always the first to come to mind. Other documents would be military records (I found many WWI draft cards for my family tree), immigration records, ship manifests, newspaper articles, wills, local histories, land records, church records, and cemetery records, just to name a few. Another helpful tip to get started is simply a Google search. Type in the name of an ancestor with perhaps a birth or death date, maybe with a spouse's name, or with a location. By a Google search, I was able to find a document mentioning my great-great grandmother's first spouse (who was the person I was actually looking for), which then led me to a marriage license document and his obituary.
I think it is alright to add information to an ancestor's file that you believe pertains to them. But make sure you put a note there saying that you believe this is true but that you don't have the evidence for it yet. If another family tree lists an ancestor's parents, but you do not have any evidence that they are indeed the real parents, I would pencil in the names on your family tree, but do not begin to research them until you know for sure that they are the parents. Why spend the time researching a line you are not sure is the correct one? Above all, don't believe everything you read on the internet or see in another family tree about your ancestor. Find that piece of proof. Build that case for your ancestor that Nancy Drew's father would want to work with.
And so it is with genealogy. It is easy to claim someone as an ancestor without having the proof. There are many family trees available on the internet, but not many have the documents to back it up. We need to see the paper trail! Ancestry.com is a great place to get started on your family tree [I am in no way compensated for promoting Ancestry.com (though if they're reading this... :) ). I find their subscription service to be very helpful in locating documents pertaining to my ancestors]. But, caveat emptor! It is easy to get excited and carried away in searching for ancestors, especially when you have found a gem of an ancestor, and click on every other person's own family tree to add their information to yours without verifying the facts. I have done this with my own tree (though I am going back to find the paper trail for each person)! If I had taken my time with each person to find my proof, instead of letting the excitement of the moment get to me, I would be saving myself a lot of time now.
What do genealogists use as proof? Census documents are always the first to come to mind. Other documents would be military records (I found many WWI draft cards for my family tree), immigration records, ship manifests, newspaper articles, wills, local histories, land records, church records, and cemetery records, just to name a few. Another helpful tip to get started is simply a Google search. Type in the name of an ancestor with perhaps a birth or death date, maybe with a spouse's name, or with a location. By a Google search, I was able to find a document mentioning my great-great grandmother's first spouse (who was the person I was actually looking for), which then led me to a marriage license document and his obituary.
I think it is alright to add information to an ancestor's file that you believe pertains to them. But make sure you put a note there saying that you believe this is true but that you don't have the evidence for it yet. If another family tree lists an ancestor's parents, but you do not have any evidence that they are indeed the real parents, I would pencil in the names on your family tree, but do not begin to research them until you know for sure that they are the parents. Why spend the time researching a line you are not sure is the correct one? Above all, don't believe everything you read on the internet or see in another family tree about your ancestor. Find that piece of proof. Build that case for your ancestor that Nancy Drew's father would want to work with.
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