52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 15

Week 15:

The theme for Week 15 is "Big Mistake." 

Our ancestors weren’t perfect. They were real people who sometimes made mistakes. Likewise, we aren’t perfect, and sometimes we make mistakes in our research. This is a good week to write about an ancestor who chose poorly or a time when a research mistake made your work harder.

For this week, I'll tell you about a research mistake I've made because of naming schemes. 

For some reason, the men on my maternal side of the family tree loved the name Johann. I have Johann Spahr, Johann Rudisill, Johann Strominger, and the list goes on. Each Johann had a few sons named Johann and a few grandsons as well.

One branch decided they really like the combination of Johann George. There are at least seven Johann Georges on one side of my family tree.

There are Johanns, Johans, Johns, and other variations on the spelling. Many of them went by their middle names (Michael, George, Daniel, etc or even Hans). 

While this isn't a mistake on the part of my ancestors, it's definitely made my job a little bit harder. I have to remember to pay attention to the dates and not focus on the names. I've discovered a few duplicates on my Ancestry.com account as a result of rushing through research. 


Some examples-


Johan George Spahr 

1771–1851

5th great-grandfather










Johann Michael Spaar (Hans)

1703–1778

7th great-grandfather











Johan George Spahr

1742–1830

6th great-grandfather








Johann Michael Strominger

1760–1848

4th great-grandfather




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