OK. You are probably wondering what I'm doing writing on Surname Saturday about a surname that does not exist. This is a major problem for me, and I'm really hoping that someone comes up with an idea on how to deal with it.
William Severs, one of my direct ancestors, was born about 1797 in Tennessee, according to the 1850 and 1860 census records in Newton County, Missouri. His wife was Matilda, also born about 1797 in Tennessee, according to those same census records. None of the children lived until at least 1900 so I don't know where they may have said where their parents were born.
So, what is the problem? I would like to have Matilda's maiden name since she is a direct ancestor also.
A bigger problem is that all of the online trees either have her listed as Matilda Tolinda, with Tolinda as her maiden name; OR they list her as Matilda Tolinda with NO last name and Tolinda as her middle name. After contacting most of these researchers, they are unable to tell me where the name Tolinda came from other than an "ancestry family tree". These researchers aren't even sure which family tree. Many of these "researchers" have posted trees with no sources, no documentation, no notes, etc. and so they have no idea where any of the information came from.
Now, another problem. It finally occurred to me to see how many Tolindas may have been in Tennessee in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Well, you guessed it. NONE!!!! There are a few people with the last name of Tolinda in the 1885 Iowa State Census, and it states that some of them were born in Ohio. Well, 1880 census doesn't have any Tolindas listed.
So, do you have any ideas as to where to look next? Or what spelling variation I could try that would might help. I've used all of the normal ones, I believe, since this is not a new problem.
I would really appreciate any help. I'll be at Jamboree next week. So, if you have any suggestions, please send me an email, respond to this blog, OR catch up with me at Jamboree. Thank you so much.
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