When it comes to genealogical research, "spelling doesn't count".

You might think you know the correct spelling, but that doesn't mean everyone else will record the name "your way". That may cause you to miss finding a record - or upon locating record, wonder if it's really your relative.

My paternal grandparents, Maurice and Retta Henrichsen, homesteaded in Lyman County, South Dakota. They lived and struggled there in Stony Butte Township from 1907 to 1919. Those had to be extraordinarily difficult years, and I'm not just referring to weather and crops. Maurice and Retta had seven children, with four dying as infants: Henry in 1910, Roberta in 1917 and unnamed twins in 1918. I can't imagine the sad and lonely despair they must have experienced there on the prairie.

My grandfather died in 1963 and is buried in the Vivian (SD) cemetery. When my husband and I visited his grave a few summers ago, I was puzzled to read the grave marker on the plot next to his, which said:               

Henrickson Infant     

    5 days old     

       1916

Who is buried there? 

Even before taking up the hobby of genealogy, I was acutely aware of the many variations of spelling "Henrichsen". Usually people change a vowel and add a "d" and/or a "k" to make "Hendricksen" or "Henrickson", etc. (My grandfather's half-brother, who settled in southern Minnesota, and his entire branch of the family spelled their name "Hinrichsen".) 

But who would mis-spell the name on a grave marker? Certainly not my grandparents or any other close relative.

Several months ago I picked up this thread again. I re-confirmed babies Henry and Roberta are buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Cherokee, Iowa (where my grandmother grew up). Their little bodies were apparently taken to Cherokee by train, in 1910 and 1917, for burial. Howver there is no record for 1918 burials of Henrichsens (or similar spellings) there.

I re-reviewed the SD death index to confirm dates. Other death certificates I've requested from this area and era (including Roberta's) have not been informative about burial location.

I re-read obituaries. Maurice and Retta's son who was born in 1916 lived to adulthood. His obituary spelled out the genders of his siblings; the twins must have been a boy and a girl. I found an on-line transcription of Vivian cemetery graves. My grandfather's name was spelled "Morris Hendrickson". The SD death index shows Roberta as "Reobertha". (South Dakota, land of poor spellers?)

I contacted a funeral home near Vivian, SD and was referred to the cemetery sextons. It turns out the cemetery's record-keeping was poor (to say the least) until the early 1940s. Another complicating factor: dust storms of the 1930s blew dirt into drifts in parts of the cemetery. When equipment was brought in to move the dirt, some gravestones were dislodged and removed. Sometime later, the cemetery purchased headstones for unmarked graves, including the "Henrickson infant". They did their best with the information they could find at the time. I believe two babies - who died 11 March and 17 March 1918 - are buried in that plot in Vivian. (What a tragic St Patrick's Day, 1918!) I will at least inquire about options for correcting their gravestone.