Hello, EDM- Researchers: My name is Carol Edmisten. I am up in the Seattle area. My oldest EDM- ancestor is my g-g-grandfather William (Billy) "Edmundson". He died 12/9/1885 in Thurman, Fremont county, Iowa. According to the ledger in the county courthouse in Sidney, he was a white, male, married farmer, born in Ohio. At 73 years, 11 months, and 3 days of age, I figure his birthdate to be January 6, 1812. He had resided in Iowa one year when he died of peritonitis. I don't know who he married but he had 3 sons and 3 daughters: William Alexander Edmisten (1839-1918), James Wesley Edmisten (1842-1918), and my g-grandfather, George Washington Edmisten (1846-1920). The daughters were Rachel, Catherine, and Susan. I don't know their dates. Rachel may have married a man named Nichols and lived in Fremont county NE also. G-g-gf William must have lived in Missouri at some point, for that is where my g-gf George was born in 1846. George's brothers, William Alexander and James Wesley, were early settlers of Cass county Nebraska (town of Union). Both are buried there. James Wesley married Sarah Ann Eaton there in 1865. My g-grandfather George W.married Annie Elizabeth Gish of Thurman Iowa in 1880. Thurman IA is just across the Missouri river from Union NE. George and Annie lived in Union NE for a time and then moved their family to Wessington Springs SD. My grandfather Ernest Edmisten was born in Union in 1892 and my father Virgil Edmisten was born in Wessington Springs in 1922. My brothers and cousins are now clustered mostly in California and around South Sioux City NE. What I would most like to know: 1) Who were my g-g-gf William's parents? Anyone know of EDM- families in Ohio around 1812? I suspect, since he named his eldest son William, that his father may have been a William also. 2) How did "Edmundson" become Edmisten? Is the 1885 Fremont co. death ledger wrong about the spelling for g-g-gf William's last name? In 1865 William's son James Wesley on his marriage certificate plainly signs "Edmisten". I can understand how someone hearing "Edmisten" can misunderstand it to be "Edmonson/Edmundson/etc". This happens to me all the time when I tell people my last name! But I don't get how someone can hear "Edmundson" and interpret it as "Edmisten". That doesn't make any sense to me. Over time, why haven't all the Edmistens disappeared-- since the most common thing that people hear is Edmonson/Edmundson/ etc.?? Thanks to Margaret, Orvan, Howard, and all the other EDM- experts who share their knowledge so generously! I truly appreciate you- even though no one seems to recognize my William "Billy" Edmundson/Edmisten yet! Carol Edmisten