Week 15 How Do You Spell That?

I lost my drive to post for a time, so now I am truly behind on the themes. I thought about just skipping all the missed posts but decided to begin where I left off. I may post more than one a week to see if I can catch up by the end of the year.

So many misspelled names in my research. It often leaves you wondering if you are following the correct person. Siepmann, my grandmothers maiden name was mangled the most often. Sepman, Supman, Stepmann, Seipmann and several others. This is one of my favorites for Fredricka Siepmann, transcribed as Fredricky Supmann. It took me some time to find for two reasons. I didn’t know she was born in Tipton, Iowa when I first began my research. The name didn’t come up in any searches until I learned how to use wildcards.

Wild Cards are a huge help for finding inaccurate transcriptions. Here is a link to an ancestry article about using wildcards . There is even a you tube video about how to search with wild cards, you can find it here . The main thing to know is it will help you find at least a few of those odd transcriptions.

I was really confused about why I couldn’t find my grandparents in the 1940 Census. I knew more or less where they lived and their name was Cook, how hard would that be to find. Little did I know that even a simple name can be interpreted incorrectly. It was transcribed as Cark! So, don’t give up, think outside the box. Also remember it is possible to submit corrections for these odd transcription errors. You can make it easier for future genealogists to find their ancestors.

This shows how my grandmother and her family were transcribed in the 1940 Census. She was Fred A. Cark!

Here is a crop of the actual Census.

I hope my experience with finding misspelled names helps you in your search. Enjoy your journey!