Funny Names #3 - BLUNCK

I always start these Funny Names posts by saying that I mean no disrespect. "Funny" means "unusual", which can also mean "unique".

I had an uncle named Rulon BLUNCK. To a little kid, BLUNCK is a funny name. Let's take a quick look at uncle Rulon and his family. www.Ancestry.com leads us to the LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, which tells us that Rulon was the son of Hans Henry Christian BLUNCK. (You don't need to go to Ancestry.com to see the LDSBE. My sister has a copy of this 4-volume work, so I know there are copies around. if you have LDS / Mormon pioneer ancestors, check it out.) This H.H.C. BLUNCK was born in Kiel, Germany, joined the Mormon Church, and made his way to the Western United States--southern Idaho, to be specific. He later married Hedvig STAUB (in 1903), another fairly funny name, and had a family, including my uncle Rulon, in the Rexburg, Idaho area.

In the 1900 census, the family was in the Salem Precinct of Fremont County, Idaho and appear on Sheet 4B. Claus, born DEC 1849, is a rancher. His wife, Anna M., was born DEC 1848. They had been married 25 years. Anna was the mother of 8, with only 4 living. The census says quite clearly that the two oldest children, our Hans and his sister Anna, came to the United States in 1892 (at ages 14 and 11, respectively) while the parents and little sister Martha came in 1895. Hmmm. Interesting. How did that happen?

A look at www.EllisIslandRecords.com shows that the parents and Martha really did come separately in 1895. They were recorded as Christian (43) and Anna (46) BLUNCK, coming from Germany to Utah with daughter Martha (age obscured). if you go looking for this record yourself, be warned that it isn't on the page that is indexed and linked (0951). It's on page 0965. I couldn't find a record of the arrival of Hans and Anna. Maybe someone in the family can add that tidbit.

Genealogy is the name of the game

Lest there be any doubt at first glance, this is a genealogy site, dedicated to furthering genealogy and family history for any and all. I invite your questions and challenges. I can handle records in English, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Latin, and a few others. I charge nothing. Your projects provide content material for this site.

When I get nothing from readers, I plow on with my own (and spouse's) ancestors. At present I'm crunching into the Lower Delmarva (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia) Peninsula, primarily in Maryland and Delaware. The principal surnames of interest are SMITH, WRIGHT, BENSON, ANTHONY, ROLPH, WALLACE, and McLAIN (and variations thereof).

Maryland State Archives Vital Records Indexing

With a bunch of ancestors from Maryland, I appreciate the effort that Maryland is making to put the index of their vital records online. It isn't easy to find if you don't know it's there. See a description of the Indexing Project at http://mdvitalrec.net/cfm/index.cfm before clicking on the Search in the left margin. Be prepared to spend some serious research TIME, as the site shows phtos of index cards, five at a time, with no rapid way to jump alphabetically. Even when you know the name you want to see in the index, it might take you 10 minutes to find it. You can click through the index card to get a copy of the certificate for $12.

Soundex - What, How, and Why

In genealogy research you will run into the word SOUNDEX. What is it? Why Does it exist?

Many family history records are indexed, mercifully, according to an ingenious phonetic index named "Soundex", and not alphabetically. Why? Because many people changed the spelling of their family names over time or when they moved. Easy examples are SCHMIDT and MULLER, which became SMITH and MILLER when they reached the United States. Others are REID, REED, and READ, and other similar combinations. The Soundex doesn't care how they are spelled; it only cares how they sound.

How does it work? The index doesn't include any vowels because, phonetically, they can't be trusted. That eliminates A, E, I, O, U, and Y and W and H. These last three are often silent or act as vowels. Next, it begins at the first of the alphabet and works its way along, grouping the remaining letters into phonetic groups.

GROUP 1: Let's see; "A" comes first, but we threw it out, so the first letter is "B". All the letters that pop like B are in Group 1. But a B and a V sound the same in some Spanish dialects, and a V sounds like an F in German, so let's includes them. The first group is the "pop and fizz" group, and it includes B, P, F, and V.

GROUP 2: After B comes C, and it is the start of Group 2: the letters that "hiss and click". A hard C can sound like K, or Q, or even X. But a soft C can sound like S, which can sound like Z. And in German, a G at the end of the word sounds like a K, which is all right because an X, in Spanish, can sound like a G. Ah, but a Spanish G (or X) can also sound like J. Did you follow that? So Group 2 includes C, G, J, K, Q, S, X, and Z.

Group 3: After C comes D, the start of the "tap" group. Only T can sound like D. That's the whole group.

Group 4: Now it gets simpler. We have thrown out A, used B, C, and D, thrown out E, used F and G, thrown out H and I, used J and K, and that brings us to L. There is no other letter like L. It stands alone in Group 4.

Group 5: After L comes M. It is joined by N. They often cancel each other out, as in damn and government (which many pronounce as "guvermint)".

Group 6: We have thrown out O, used P and Q, and then come to R, which stands alone in Group 6. Amazingly, that's all. We have used S and T, thrown out U, used V, thrown out W, used X, thrown out Y, and used Z.

Now let's look at a few examples and see if you can't "soundex" on your own. First, keep the first letter of the name, and then find the Group number for the next three significant consonants, if there are that many, like this:

Lee = L and then no consonants, or L-000.
Linn = L and then N, but only once, because doubled consonants are only heard once = L-500, which means "a name that starts with L and is then followed by a consonant sound from Group 5, and no others.
Lind = L and the N and then D = L-530.
Linden = L-535.
Lindner = L-535. Gotcha! The Soundex only considers the first letter and the next THREE significant sounds.

L-535 would handle LINDEN, LONDON, LINDNER, and variations of each. Let's see what happens with SCHMIDT. Hint: it isn't S-253. The SCH combination makes only one united sound, so the C isn't counted. S-530 handles SCHMIDT, SCHMITT, SMITH, SMYTHE, and more. M-460 handles MILLER, MULLER, MOELLER, MUELLER, and others.

The only real challenges are names like LEE/LEIGH, VENIA/VEGNA, CORDNER/KORDNER, THOMPSON/THOMSON, or JOHN/JOHNS. They will have different Soundex codes. If at first you don't succeed, try an alternate code.

FILIPPONI Follow-Up - FESI Family

I thought it would be good to follow up on the big posting on the FILIPPONI family (that's the preferred spelling in Italy) with a note on the family of their daughter Victoria, who married Antonio (Tony) FESI. As we saw, Tony was born in (or near) Palermo, Sicily, on 08 DEC 1894 and came to the US in 1913. He and Victoria married in Bloomington, Illinois on 22 SEP 1919. Their children were:
1. Joseph (15 AUG 1920)
2. Rose Angelina (23 OCT 1922)
3. John Peter (24 JUL 1924)
4. Mary Catherine (21 AUG 1931)
5. Janet Eileen (06 AUG 1933)

The Social Security Death Index says Antonio FESI died in OCT 1962 and was a Railroad Board pensioner. Victoria, born 13 DEC 1901, died APR 1976 in Bloomington.

The 1930 census shows the family in Normal, McLean County, Illinois, ED 57-54, sheet 6B, as follows:
106 Locust
FESS, Tony 32, md at 23, Italy, to US in 1913, laborer for C&A steam railway
FESS, Victoria 27, md at 16, Italy, to US in 1909, errand girl for a store
FESS, Joseph 8 or 9, Illinois
FESS, Rose Angeline 7, Illinois
FESS, John 5y8m, Illinois

So, why was Victoria at home with her parents in the 1920 census, being married? Where was Tony? Interestingly, he was nearby, and not alone. Thanks to the marriage, Victoria got into the census twice. See this record:
1202 Linden St, Normal City
FESE, Tony 24, md, alien, Italy, foundry laborer
FESE, Victoria 18, md, alien, Italy (scratched out, with US over it)

I couldn't find any record of John or Joseph under the name FESI. They may be using FESE. There is a Joseph FESE in Lexington, Illinois, not far outside Bloomington-Normal.