Any Name Can Be Spelled “Whrong”

No matter how common or easy to spell a name may appear to be, it can always be spelled in an atypical way. A correspondent told me there was a homestead entry for Eliza Ramsey in Saunders County, Nebraska. It took me a while to find it–Ramsey easily gets rendered incorrectly as Rumsey. After spending some time thinking maybe the document was filed under her husband’s name of Harrison or under “Eli,” the entry was finally located under the spelling of “Rhamsey.” It doesn’t really sound any different–“h” is one of those silent letters. Of course this is the only document I’ve found on Eliza or her husband that uses this spelling, but now I’ll keep in it mind.

There’s more on this homestead entry in my Rootdig blog.