What's in a name?

As I continue to clean out my working genealogy folder and enter the information into my family tree, I come to my last six Sponable obituaries. At first glance they seem pretty straight forward, two sons of Nathan Sponable, one son’s wife and their daughter, Nathan’s obituary along with another daughter.

However, nothing is ever straight forward when it comes to genealogy or my family. The first two who I believe are two sons of Nathan are Clarence and Clark.

Clarence’s obituary states Clarence B Sponable, 72 was born in the town of Oppenheim April 17, 1878 the son of Nathan and Mary Ellen Dempster Sponable. He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Ida Sponable and one son Elton Sponable.

Morning Herald	Leader Republican

Clark’s obituary states Clark B Sponable, 72 was born in the town of Oppenheim April 17, 1878 the son of Nathan and Mary Ellen Dempster Sponable. He is surved by his wife, Mrs. Ida Sponable and one son Elton Sponable.

Gazette	Leader Republican

So at first glance what I thought was two sons are in fact one son. What I like about these two obituaries is the fact that it clearly documents that Clarence and Clark are in fact the same person, or perhaps Clarence really wasn’t the correct name and the Clark’s obituary is clearing up the fact. I find Clark listed as Clark in all Census records that I can find for him. I haven’t clearly identified him in the 1905 New York State census. Even his World War I and II draft registration cards list him as Clark.

In addition, Clarence’s obituaries, he had two were published in Gloversville, New York newspapers; The Morning Herald and the Leader Republican both on Monday, May 15, 1950 while Clark’s two were both published on Tuesday, May 16, 1950; one in the Leader Republican of Gloversville, New York and the other in the Gazette of Schenectady, New York. So it does appear, that the Clark obituaries are corrections to the Clarence’s obituaries however neither one states the error.

Also, please note that I did not find these obituaries personally, they were posted on Public trees shared via Ancestry.com, therefore there could be more obituaries and/or something that states one is the correction of the other.

This example has taught me a valuable lesson, which one should not stop when finding one obituary or record. I am also glad that I did save these obituaries into my Working Folder to be analysis at a later time. Had I been rushed to add this information into my genealogy database, I might have added two sons, whom at first glanced looked like twins. I might not have realized that they died on the same day and add the same wife and son.

Christina, wife of Abram Sponable 1850-1918

Sometimes as I research to figure out the maiden name of women, I may find it easier to prove who they are not.

On the Ancestry website, hints for my Christina come up with a maiden name of Nellis. When I follow the link to the 1860 Census in St Johnsville, Montgomery, New York another problem arises. Who are Christina Nellis parents? Are they Edward Nellis and his wife Margaret or John H Nellis and his wife Christina.

To make a long story short, I found from the 1850 US Census both Nellis couples above where living with Jacob J Klock (1779-1851) and per Jacob’s will from 1851, both Margaret and Christina were his daughters.

Going forward, I found Christina Klock Nellis Find A Grave Index which listed Christina Vedder (1851-1915) as her daughter. When I clicked on the daughter’s name, I found Christina Vedder’s will. Here she identified that her father was John Henry Nellis and her husband was Johnathan Vedder.

Now I found a 1900 US census for my Christina Sponable who was born in Mar 1852 in New York State and has been married for 24 years and she had one child who is still living. In fact, the son Seeber Sponable is listed several households above Christina and her husband Abram.

I also found a 1900 US Census for Christina Vedder who was born in Oct 1851 in New York State and has been married for 30 years and she also had one child who is not still living. Her child, Edward K Vedder (1871-1876) was linked to her Find A Grave Index.

In spite of finding a tree, with Abram Sponable’s wife listed as Christina Nellis with parents of Edward Nellis and Margaret Klock, I am more than confident to say, my Christina, wife of Abram Sponable is not Christina Nellis and in fact Christina Nellis parents are not Edward Nellis and Margaret Klock but are John Henry Nellis and Christina Klock.

Moral of the story and something I remind to all my fellow researchers, take other people’s trees with a grain of salt and do your own research and see if you can come to the same conclusions. Also, I still haven't figured out what was my Christina's maiden name.