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Question: The 1930 census has my Grandfather's name listed as Umphey, His obituary has him as Humphries!. Which is correc!?
"Grandpa" was born in 1885 in Lamar County Mississippi and, He migrated to Gary in about 1930, or so!. Could he have been illiterate an misspronounced the name or, perhaps spelled it wrong!?Www@QuestionHome@Com


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I also have Humphrey/Umphrey's in my line!. In my case one researcher said it was a conscious change because of some bad blood between branches of the same family during the civil war!. whether or not this is true there is no way to tell!. Names were spelled phonetically and with pronunciation and literacy problems many names were misspelled!. In doing research look for all spellings and misspellings!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

William Umphey
Home in 1930: Gary, Lake, Indiana
Age: 44
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1886
Birthplace: Mississippi
Relation to Head of House: Head
Spouse's Name: Anna
Race: ***** (Black)
William Umphey 44 MS MS MS
Anna Umphey 30 TN TN TN
Torrence Umphey 13 MS
Mary R Umphey 10 MS
William Umphey 7 MS
Paul Umphey 4 IN
Tesse Umphey 2 IN
Martha Umphey 1 IN

Census takers wrote what they heard, then someone came along and transcribed the record and wrote what they saw!. So I'd say the obituary is correct as it's most current, it's from a source (like a wife or child) and the funeral home usually puts it in the paper and they have the death certificate!. I would order his death certificate and see who is listed as his parents and their last names!.

Paul Humphries Sr b!. 1925 Gary In, d!. 1998!. Parents were Robert Humphries Jr and Anna Kemp d!. 1942!. Sister Martha d!. 2005 in Detroit Michigan and was married to J D Duncan!.

Martha B!. Duncan
SSN: 380-30-1861
Last Residence: 48204 Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, United States of America
Born: 1 Sep 1928
Died: 4 May 2004
State (Year) SSN issued: Michigan (Before 1951 )
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Right and wrong are relative terms when you are discussing the spelling of names before computerized standardization!. First names and middle names and initials could be fairly fluid, and the spelling of surnames could vary for personal or political reasons!. Really, you want to look at every available piece of information before determining which is "correct" or which is the name he prefered!. The most useful clues would be those generated by your subject or his immediate family!. Census records were taken by enumerators; obituaries may have been written by funeral home or newspaper staff!. Can you find a source he may have signed, like his will, military papers, his WWI draft registration, or real estate papers!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

Census takers spelled the names, many times, the way they thought they should be spelled; they did not always ask for spellings from the person!. It is also possible that they misunderstood his pronunciation!. I have found several names in our family that are spelled differently on every census, especially Bailey!. The correct one is whichever one is used by descendants today!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

> Could he have been illiterate
Yes

> Could he have misspronounced the name!?
Yes

> Could he have spelled it wrong!?
Yes

If you find him in the 1900, 1910, and 1920, you may find even more variations!. Even with "Pack", which is a common noun and a verb, I've found relatives spelled Pack, Peck, Back, Pock, Puck!. Poke !. !. !.

I looked up a family named Bilyeu once!. They had a different spelling on each census!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

As you guessed, it is probably just a problem with literacy and/or pronounciation!. But it could have been either him (or whoever responded to the questions) OR the census taker!.
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