Misspelled Names

Yesterday I blogged about a conversation I overheard at the Oklahoma History Center by a man who refused to listen to any suggestions or advice about the man he was researching.

Well, today I was checking for some Civil War veterans buried in Rose Hill Cemetery at Chickasha, Grady Co. OK. A Joseph P. Gross was listed as a CSA vet. His dates were listed as 1 Feb 1834-5 Feb 1994. Now there is now way this could correct. So I checked the 1910 census, but was unable to find him. His wife died in 1903, so I decided to check the 1900 census. Again no luck. I tried several combinations of names and dates, but still no luck.

Then it dawned on me! I checked the 1900 census again, but this time typed in Cross as the last name. There he was with wife Martha and two daughters and a grandchild. Then I checked my database of Civil War veterans buried in Oklahoma. NO Joseph Gross, but a hit on Joseph Cross.

This is the problem with cemetery listings. You have to rely on another person's ability to read different fonts and scripts correctly. I should have realied right of the C vs. G issue. But I, like the researcher at the Oklahoma History Center, failed to consider the obvious. Glad I finally did!

So in my Oklahoma Death Index to 1920 database, I have two entries each for Martha and Joseph. And each entry states that the cemetery list has the surname as Gross, whereas the 1900 census has it as Cross.