Very well put Ray,
It must be remembered by every genealogist that no matter what records you
are looking for/through, that the spelling of your ancestor's name could
depend greatly on many different factors.
In a time period when many people spelled phonetically, the variations were
even more prevalent.
Especially if you are dealing with an early time frame, the researcher must
ask themselves a couple of questions before really saying they gave their
"all" to the search.
1. Was your ancestor an immigrant?
2. If so, from what country?
3. How might that effect that way that he pronounces his name or how it
may sound to another spelling it?
4. Was your ancestor from the deep south, therefore giving him the very
distinctive accent of that geographic area?
5. Was your ancestor from the north, another accent?
The researcher must attempt to state their ancestor's name using various
dialects to determine just what the recorder may or may not have heard at
the time of recording.
In recently working with many census records, I have found various
occupations spelt many different ways and I can easily see just how those
spellings came about.
Schooling in the early years was minimal at best, there is no reason to
expect that the census taker was "the whiz" of the county.
Much data on census records is also due to "what the neighbor related to the
recorder because that family wasn't home" or it was too far to the next
house.
Debbie
www.sweetowen.net
If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and
all generations of your ancestors. All
of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the
continuation.