Wednesday, April 15, 2015

52 Ancestors Challenge ~ Week #15

This week's "How Do You Spell That?" theme is a bit tricky for me.  For the most part, my ancestors have fairly straightforward names.  There are a few that have sent me creatively searching, switching first and middle names.  My 3rd great grandmother's name is Sylvania Amanda (Jenness) Whittemore, or perhaps it is Amanda Sylvania.  She married Charles Foster Whittemore in 1868 and died in Manchester, New Hampshire in 1906.  Her son, James Lyman, married my great grandmother, Mabel Scott Whittemore.  (Her father, Alfred, was a younger brother to James' grandfather, Jesse)

In looking through census records, I found my great grandmother Mabel listed in the 1910 census as Maybelle.  I chalked that up to the whim of the census taker.  A few weeks ago I came across my grandmother's wedding book and was so very surprised to see this
Under Witnesses, the bride's mother has written her name as Maybelle!  So, perhaps for a time in her 30's and early 40's, she fancied a different spelling of her name!  

2 comments:

  1. So interesting. And lotsa questions now. I wish I'd taken up family history 50 years ago....

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  2. My auntie Mabel hated the original spelling of her name which was Mabelle, so she dropped the le. :<)

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