Lemuel Olmstead (1822 - 1896)

Born 28 Feb 1822 in New York, United States

Ancestors

Died 20 Dec 1896 at age 74 in Lounsberry, Tioga, New York, United States

This profile is part of the Olmstead Name Study.

Olmstead vs Olmsted

This one of the many individuals where the use of the family name with or without the “a” is in question as we do not know how the person themselves really used it and often they may not have realized the difference themselves. Records for an individual may appear both ways, often created by someone who thought they knew how to spell the name. The 1912 ‘’Olmsted Genealogy’’ gives everyone the family name without the “a” for “simplicity. Find-a-Grave memorial are often created based on belief or one poorly written census, etc. when the name is not shown on a cemetery monument and there are many instances where later generations have monuments made based on their guess of how an ancestor spelled the name. That said, we tend to leave profile’s as created, with or without the “a” and then put the alternate name in the other last name field in the database. Then make a statement here in this Biography with sources.
Walt Steesy, Olmste(a)d genealogists thanks you.

Biography

Lemuel Olmsted, son of Joshua and Salome (Arnold) Olmsted, was born 28 February 1822. He is sometimes refered to as Samuel.

He married Eliza Johnson in 1859 and they had a son Edward.

He married Olive Spaulding in 1872; they had no children together.

Lemuel died 20 December and is buried in the Riverside Cemetery, Lounsberry, Tioga, New York. ^[1] The photo of the large family monument clearly shows the family name as Olmsted (no "a"). His wife Olive's name appear just below his.

Research Notes

The majority of records (1860, 1870, 1880, 1892 and Civil War draft) for Lemuel/Samuel appear as Olmstead. An interesting exception is the petition to the Surrogate's court by son Edward where the name is given as Olmsted.

The family name was definitely in transition in his generation. Thus, the conclusion is that he was born Olmsted but used Olmstead for most of his life after moving to Tioga County, New York

Sources

1. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #57837628

• Olmsted, Henry King, M.D. Genealogy of the Olmsted Family in America (A.T. De La Mare, New York, 1912); pgs. 232, 283 #5093
• Olmste(a)d files of Walt Steesy
• "New York State Census, 1855," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K63K-BJS : 7 September 2016), Saloma Olmstead, E.D. 1, Nichols, Tioga, New York, United States; citing p. 8, line #44, family #24, county clerk offices, New York; FHL microfilm 816,364.

Acknowledgments

• Olmsted-39 was created by Valentine Van Zee on April 5, 2012.
  Olmstead-233 was created by Pat Kent on 15 July 2016.