Mr. and Mrs. Henry Messmore returned Thursday night from Clinton, Tenn. where they were called Monday by the death of Mr. Messmore's sister, M r s . Delores Nation and her baby. Services for both were conducted Wednesday afternoon. Middletown Jouranl, Middletown, Ohio, Feb. 5, 1950 What is the correct spelling?

Hi Angela, You are doing a fine job on the old articles. I have some Messmore relations some spell it M-e-s-s-A-more some leave the A out. Kind of like the Burge and Byrge and the Burress/Burris/Burse families. John __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? All your favorites on one personal page � Try My Yahoo! http://my.yahoo.com

>Mr. and Mrs. Henry Messmore >returned Thursday night from >Clinton, Tenn. where they were >called Monday by the death of >Mr. Messmore's sister, M r s . >Delores Nation and her baby. >Services for both were conducted >Wednesday afternoon. > >Middletown Jouranl, Middletown, Ohio, Feb. 5, 1950 > >What is the correct spelling? As with many surnames, there are many correct variations. The original German spelling was probably Messimer or Missimer. The first letter is always M. The second letter can be A or E or I or O. E is most common. A and O are unusual, but they do happen. The third letter is always S, and usually the S is double. There may or may not be a vowel after the S or SS. If there is a vowel, it may be A or E or I. The next three letters are MOR or MER. There may or may not be a final E. Jerry Bryan