I'm working on some blogs on the Lankford / Lankfard Family Connections. I'm comparing how each family member in the Robert and Charlotta (Dade) Lankford / Lankfard branch spelled their family surname. The first time I was aware of the different spellings, was on tombstones.
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| Tombstone in Ashland Cemetery, St. Joseph, Missouri. |
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| Tombstones in Ashland Cemetery, St. Joseph, Missouri |
I don't know if the LANKFARD family choose this surname. Or if they discovered that the family spelt it that way. The first recording of surname the LANKFARD spelling, that I have come across, was in the St. Joseph, Missouri City Directory in 1898. The first document with the LANKFORD spelling was on Lewis LANKFORD and Miss Charlotta DADE's marriage license in 1873.
I have found some documents on the surname spelling. I had been searching records on how some of the Lankfard siblings signed their surnames. There are documents from marriage licenses, U.S. WW I Draft Registration: 1917 - 1918, WW II Draft Registrations: 1942, Post Cards, 1908 / 1910.
There were other records: the City directories: 1880's - 1900's, Tombstones, Newspaper Advertisements, some censuses and the U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007. The surname was spelled LANKFARD in most cases.
Tracing The LANKFARD surnames through the Siblings
James Andrew LANKFARD
Frederick A. LANKFARD
Isabella (LANKFORD/ LANKFARD) NICKERSON
Lula Mae Russell (LANKFARD) MADISON
Anna Alice (LANKFARD) SMITH
Charles Edward LANKFARD
Nymadula LANKFARD
Louis Adward LANKFARD
Leo LANKFORD / LANKFARD
I honor both spelling. My linage spelling is LANKFORD. But, I believe most of the earlier family spell their surname LANKFARD. Somehow the LANKFORD spelling stood out.
Thanks for reading.
S.A. Blakley
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