It never hurts to be reminded that genealogists should not assume anything. A researcher assumed that the last name of a relative’s husband was spelled incorrectly in an obituary and “corrected” in their transcription and in their online postings regarding the family.
The problem was that, in this case, the obituary was correct. Had the researcher looked for information other than the obituary, he would have seen numerous references to the husband (and the wife) with the last name written as it was in the obituary.
There’s actually three reminders here: don’t assume, obituaries are not always wrong, and avoid relying on just one source.
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