Thursday, March 17, 2016

SIDELINKER VS SIDELINGER

SIDELINGER VS SIDELINKER

So what's in a name.....as it turns out a lot when it comes to researching the family history of the Sidelingers and Sidelinkers.  The sidelinkers run through my wife's side of the family and for years it had been a nightmare trying to track down the family roots.  Than one day I came upon a piece a professional genealogy researcher had done on the Sidelinkers - as it turns out they were Sidelingers long before they became Sidelinkers.
Today we know how the Sidelinkers came to be, at some point a family memer or members began calling themselves Sidelinkers, even signing official documents with the made up name.  Over time, the name stuck with newer family members being born and also taking on the false name.  What we don't know is why some family members moved away from the name Sidelinger to the name Sidelinker.
I had thought my research had led me to the person behind the name change, when I discovered that Osgood Fifield Sidelinker was actually born a Sidelinger.  In fact a couple of documents besides his birth record show him signing his name as a Sidelinger.  But than something odd happens, when he got married he suddenly switches the spelling of his name and begins going by Sidelinker.  I had thought that was the smoking gun, but as I researched his father Ira Sidelinger, I also discovered a couple documents where his name is spelled Sidelinker, and there are examples that go further back in the family line, so just where or how it began is anyone's guess.
What is important to carry away from all this is the simple fact that Sidelinkers began as Sidelingers and one must keep this in mind when researching the family history.  So if I am conducting a family search online this is some ways I would type in Osgood's name;  Osgood Sidelinker, Osgood Sidelinger, Osgood f. Sidelinker, Osgood F. Sidelinger, Osgood Fifield Sidelinker, Osgood Fifield Sidelinger, and so on.  I would also include in that search any other known spellings of his name, not leaving any stone unturned.
So Osgood Fifield Sidelinker parents were Ira Francis Sidelinger and Matilda  J. Whitcomb.
Ira's parents were Ebenezer  "Eben" Sidelinger and Catherine Shuman, and Ebenezer's parents were Johann Daniel Sidelinger (sometimes went by Daniel) and Elizabeth Umberhind.  Johann's parents were Martin Sidelinger, though in German it is spelled differently, and Mary ?.  Martin was born and died in Germany and Mary was born in Germany, unknown where she died.  One record states Martin's son Johann was born in Germany, which makes sense.

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