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Archiver > TXBELL > 2006-02 > 1139676809


From: "Amanda Thompson Dyer" <>
Subject: RE: [TXBELL] PHASAELUS BELL
Date: Sat, 11 Feb 2006 10:53:29 -0600
In-Reply-To: <001101c62f29$c95519c0$2b387044@D8761H81>


Jody:

The artifact is a 37" long gun barrel. I know very little about firearms,
so some local firearms hobbyists are helping me identify the type, caliber,
est. date, etc. By searching on ancestry.com, I found an entry that stated
that he was a gunsmith and mechanic. I have hadn't even thought of him
possibly being the *maker* of the gun!

Amanda

-----Original Message-----
From: Jody D [mailto:]
Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2006 10:40 AM
To:
Subject: Re: [TXBELL] PHASAELUS BELL


Amanda,

One of the common mistakes that genealogists make is assuming that people
know how to spell their own name. Remember until the early 1900's most
people in the country were illiterate. And family names passed down
through the generations were butchered over and over again. My father never
knew the correct spelling of his grandmother's name. It was Minerva but she
was only called M.J. or Mrs Dillard. On her headstone it is spelled
Manerva. Most names were spelled phonetically if unsure. Her mother's last
name was Clements but she used that name for child and spelled it Clemmons.
Another family member spelled it Clemons for their child's name. My own
name is Joanne but my mother didn't know how to spell it when she chose it
so she left it up to the person filling out the birth certificate and he
spelled it Joan. I had my birth certificate amended when I was an adult
just because of the spelling. This is one of the biggest challenges of
genealogy.

With a name like Phasaelus I can only imagine all the different ways it was
spelled. Good luck.

I am curious, what kind of artifact are you dealing with?



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