Troublesome Spelling

LAMPREY, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Even without the poison ivy, I knew I was going to have to do a lot of work with this family. As soon as I saw this side of the gravestone, one thing was obvious.

This family name is LAMPREY, not LAMPHREY or LAMPHEY as they are identified in the family records of the Hyde family of Southborough.

I was working from the handwritten records of the family, typing away in my family tree. Well, I couldn't find this family in the vital records or in the census.

Clearly, something was wrong.

Sometimes, a gravestone can be a huge help with a simple problem. "There, I thought, Gotcha." Don't make spelling assumptions. I felt very smug.

So once I got the spelling in correctly, the records literally leapt off the monitor.

But, there was still problems ahead.