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14 December 2010

Same Name Does Not Mean Same Person

It does not matter how "odd" the name is, even if one detail fits. A very distant relative of mine claimed online that my aunt died in Chicago in 1935, because he found someone with her same name dying there.

Problem is that the Chicago person isn't the relative he thinks it is. If he had done research in the local records where the family actually lived (a distance from Chicago), he would have located the person's probate file which indicated she died in the 1950s.

The same's the same doesn't mean the person is. When in doubt, check it out. And if you aren't in doubt, get that way.