PREVIOULY PUBLISHED IN ROOTSWEB REVIEW Vol. 6, no. 16, 16 April 2003 7. FROM ROOTSWEB REVIEW'S BOTTOMLESS MAILBAG [Editor's note: The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the editor or of RootsWeb.com]. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Putting Our Ears On I have an interesting family by any definition of the term, but one ancestor in particular has been a headache for decades. My 2g- grandfather was the actual immigrant. In Germany he was named Johann Christlieb DIETZMANN, but in America he became John C. DIETZMAN. Being well-to-do, by the standards of the day, he was able to bring his family along, including my great-grandfather, who was born in Germany. For reasons known only to my ancestors, (perhaps a streak of insanity in the line?) they gave him "the name from hell." He was born Traugott Glaubagott Fuchtegott DIETZMAN. He is most often found as "Trouket" DIETZMAN, sometimes changed to "Trucott." In one U.S. census he is listed as "Henry" and in another as "Frank" (best readings) but the uncommon names of his wife and children allow us to trace him, anyway. But on the death certificate of his youngest child (by his first wife) the decedent's father's name is given as "Crockett" DIETZMAN. Some people have further incorrectly extrapolated the name and list him, based on this wrong datum, as David Crockett DIETZMAN. Whatever was "going around" at the time of his birth, he wasn't totally alone. His mother's maiden name was OBENAUF, and in his generation there was also a Traugott Glaubagott Fuchtegott OBENAUF to keep him company. The ultimate advice is, don't even accept so-called PRIMARY sources at face value. --W. Dale Dietzman daled73@earthlink.net ********************************************************************** \\\|/// \\ ~ ~ // ( @ @ ) ----oOOo-(_)-oOOo----McGillekehr ********************************************************************** *****Your kygenweb homepages are***** CALDWELL http://home.hiwaay.net/~woliver/caldwell.html LYON http://home.hiwaay.net/~woliver/lyon.html TRIGG http://www.kyseeker.com/trigg/index.html **********************************************************************