"We Can Not Be Related - Our Name Has 2 "p's"

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Genealogy is such a fascinating hobby to pursue. We are interested in learning all sorts of things about our ancestors and where we came from. As we start researching some basic truths soon stand out, like: the last names (surnames) are not always spelled the same in records and sometimes the name has been shortened or otherwise changed. Names like "Woodis" might be spelled ~ Woodas, Woodus, Woudes, Wooddis or Woodiss... you can fill in the other 30 or 40 variations! Then you have simple names like Phipps spelled "Fips!" Names that are "Anglicized" makes up a lot of these name changes. One of my ancestors is John Kimble that I finally learned was Anglicized in Virginia in Colonial days from Johann Kimmel. Simpler changes are dropping extra repeated letters: Hermann becomes Herman. Another example might be Westmoreland becomes simply West. Many American families of German descent during the World Wars decided to change their traditional German names to a common English name to avoid others having mixed opinions concerning their home country. Schmidt became Smith, Kliene became Cline, Kasper became Casper, etc.


Besides all of these name problems, you also have people who can not spell: Weatlee = Wheatley; Night = Knight; Mathney = Mattingly. Then, of course, you have "typo" or careless errors in copying names for indexes or transcriptions of documents.


You would think that would be the end of it, but not yet... one of the worst problems is having common names to research like Brown, Smith, Jones, Wood/Woods, or even West. Just think of researching the family of John Smith who married a Mary or Elizabeth (last name unknown) in a county saturated with Smiths! When I was a kid, Dad took me to Christian County, Kentucky and as we were traveling he asked me to count the mail boxes with the name John West (my name)... in about 30 minutes of going down this one road, I counted 12 with my name and saw at least 20 more boxes with the surname of WEST!!!


Bear in mind that location and time might alter how common some names might be. My cousin sent me this message yesterday (that prompted this blog) concerning a reservation for a party room at a local restaurant for us to have an informal LONG family get-together:


"I did put the reservations in my name. I should have used a less common one. We have been in restaurants with reservations that were given to another Jones party. So, we started using our oldest daughter's married name, Elpers. (Our youngest daughter's married name is Smith. Yes, it really is. And, then, of course, our son's name is Jones). The lady at the Log Inn laughed when we said Elpers. That's as common as Jones up that way. The owners are actually named Elpers." - Beverly Justus Jones


The above quote is an excellent example of location affecting how common names might surprise you when you are researching!


Genealogy can be a great hobby, but to avoid some unnecessary headaches try to remember that our family's surnames are not carved in stone (and even if it is, like in a tombstone... it may not be correct or the same). One branch of the family may spell the name one way with the brother's line spelling it differently. If your family "always" spelled it "Woodis" and some other family "always" spelled it "Woodduss" ~ suspect that the two families are probably related!

- Written by JGWest

From My Email Box - "Puzzles - Just for Fun!"

Genealogists are detectives... puzzle solvers! I thought it might be fun for visitors to have a few puzzles to sharpen their puzzle solving skills.

Telephone Mathematical Puzzle

Grab a calculator. (You won't be able to do this one in your head)

1. Key in the first three digits of your phone number(NOT the Area
code...)
2. Multiply by 80
3. Add 1
4. Multiply by 250
5. Add to this the last 4 digits of your phone number
6. Add to this the last 4 digits of your phone number again.
7. Subtract 250
8. Divide number by 2

Do you recognize the answer?
- Submitted by Sherri Bradley

From Alice Warner comes the mathematical explanation how the above puzzle was developed and how it works... she makes it all quite simple!

When done properly, it should concatenate the two numbers used (the
first three digits, and the last 4 digits) so that you wind up with
your 7 digit phone number.

The way this works is through algebra. Assume the first three digits
to be "x" and the last 4 to be "y". The instructions lead you to this:

Step 1: x
Step 2: 80x
Step 3: 80x+1
Step 4: (80x+1)*250 = 2000x+250
Step 5: 2000x+250+y
Step 6: 2000x+250+2y
Step 7: 2000x+250+2y-250 = 2000x+2y
Step 8: (2000x+2y)/2 = 1000x+y

Then, since multiplying by multiples of 10 shifts the decimal point
one number, 1000x means that your three digit exchange becomes
###0000. Then by adding the last 4 digits you wind up with #######,
which will always be the first three digits concatenated by the last 4
digits, on the assumption that the first number x is ALWAYS a 3 digit
number and the second number y is ALWAYS a 4 digit number.

My cousin Beverly Justus Jones sent me this great puzzle that will help you learn the locations of exactly where each state fits in our country - it is kind of a geography puzzle.

Place the States!

This is fun, lets see how good you are.!!!

Place exactly on the spot....

Wonder how a high school senior would do on this one. See how you do in placing the states of the United States of America. All you do is look at the top of the page and "drag'n'drop" the state where it belongs. Smart map, varies the order of the states' placement with each new try! Look across from the word Place to see the state!

It isn't easy mostly because placing a state in the precise location when it as yet has no boundaries in place is a bit tricky! No half credit for close but over a tad....If you get it wrong, click and drag to the correct area which will show up in red.

http://jimspages.com/States.htm
Click on the above site.

Have some fun and improve some of your genealogical skills! - JGWest