It's Week 15 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge. The prompt for the week is ‘How Do You Spell That?’ That is a great question! After over 20 years of research, I still do not know the correct spelling of my grandmother’s surname! When I knew my grandmother, she was Susie Petrini. But before that she was Susie Janco…or was she? I have found so many variations of the spelling of ‘Janco’, and the longer I research, the more variations I find!
The earliest record I have found is the ship manifest for her father’s arrival at the Port of Baltimore. I always knew him as Paul Janco. Janco is the spelling my grandmother wrote down in her notes. Janco is the spelling on his death certificate. Janco is the spelling I've seen on the back of every photo. But on the ship manifest he is ‘Pal Jancso’.
This could be a simple misspelling due to pronunciation. I know my great-grandfather lived into his 90s and only reluctantly used English. He had a heavy accent and could have been misunderstood. However, the Jancso spelling is also found on a ship manifest 4 years later. When his wife arrived at the Port of Baltimore with 3 of their children, the name is spelled Jancso. Paul is found as ‘Paul Jansgo’ in city directories from Peoria, Illinois in 1913 and 1914. The spelling is close, with a ‘g’ replacing a ‘c’. But the ’s’ has reversed places. In an earlier 1910 directory I find ‘Paul Jansok’. This may not be Paul Janco, but I don’t find ‘Jansok’ in any other directory, and I don’t find ‘Paul Jansgo’ in the 1910 directory. I have a 1912 birth certificate for daughter Elizabeth, born in Peoria. The spelling here is difficult to read, but appears to be ‘Janscha’ or ‘Janscka’. I don’t have a lot of faith in this variation as my feeling is that this is could be a distortion due to pronunciation.
When Maria aka Mary died a few months later her surname was recorded as ‘Jansgo’. So which was the original spelling? Was it Jancso; or was it Jansgo? Things will be even more complicated for future genealogists! Very early in my research I requested a lookup for Mary Janco’s death record on a Peoria County message board. Not only did the researcher look up the death record—she also went out to the cemetery to get a photo for me! Unfortunately Mary’s grave was unmarked. I shared this information with my Janco family. They all seemed excited to have this information. About 10 years later I was making edits on Find-A-Grave and saw that there is now a tombstone photo on Mary’s memorial.
The name on the marker is Mary Jancso. I contacted the cemetery to get contact information for the person who placed the stone. I hoped to learn more about Mary and the original spelling of the name. I was surprised and disappointed to learn that the purchaser was my mother’s cousin. She used the spelling I gave her years earlier! And had no supporting evidence that Jancso was the true spelling! I have no idea if this is something she 'always' knew. She seemed surprised by the spelling when I showed it to her. Both my mother and my aunt have reacted this way when I've shared information with them. They are completely surprised by the new information. Then several months later they seem convinced that they always knew this infomation. They tell me I should have just asked instead of wasting my time on research! I know this happens with them, so I have no confidence that any information they give me is correct! Obviously, oral history is not reliable information!
So...how DO you spell that anyway?!
For what it's worth, Jancsó is the usual spelling of this Hungarian surname. (It derives from a nickname for John.)
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