Do you really know how your ancestors said their last name? I always thought I knew how my grandmother's maiden name was said, until I saw it in an 1870 census with a "new" spelling. I asked on an German research list how the last name was likely said by a low-German speaker and was given a pronunciation slightly different from what I had always used. Then the alternate spelling made perfect sense.
Do you know your ancestor's name was said?
It can make all the difference.
Subscribe to Casefile Clues and see how it helped with the family I was researching for issue 42.
