Goodridge vs Goodrich conundrum

Question

Hello, have a question here, I'm fairly new to the site and all the wiki stuff, so don't flame me to bad ;)

 Working up my tree and come across a Fanny (Goodridge) Simmerwill (Goodridge-143).  Could this actually be Fanny (Goodrich) Simerwell?

All information like Father, Mother, Siblings, Etc, match everything I have except the last name, which it say "Goodridge". And later someone added her husband as "Unknown Simmerwill".  This is like my 4th Great Grandmother.. I do have photos, and LOTS of documentation on her and her husband Robert Simerwell... "Early Baptist Missionaries to the Indians in the Kansas Territory.

Bad thing is, it looks like that Goodridge tree is a very large tree... either way, there seems to be a lot of work to be done... All the pictures I took at the cemetery and books I have read, and even the family bible say "Goodrich".  Even the Kansas Historical Society has her as "Goodrich".

I know it's frowned upon to have duplicates, but it's also bad to add her to my tree I am working on when there has been so much work done on that line already...

Just stumped and don't really know how to proceed.

Robert A. Carter

Answer 1

Last names are can be a struggle here on Wikitree. Clearly it is intended that this represents your ancestor. We strive to use the last name that that the person used at birth, but many other sites and sources normalize names to more easily trace lines. This can cause a name change to ripple up and down generations without a clear source.

Currently the profile is orphaned, it does not have a profile manager. The name is also not supported by sources. I would recommend adopting the profile, adding your sources, and changing the last name at birth.

Comments

Thank you for the reply Greg. I will do just that.. Just trying to help the best I can.  And learning as I go too.

Answer 2

If she descends from the immigrant William-1 Goodridge of Watertown, Massachusetts, then her true surname is Goodrich, since even William-1 Goodrich/Goodridge was married at St. Michael-Woolverstone, Suffolk, England on 19 Aug 1631 with his surname recorded as Goodrich. Then his children William baptized 04 Oct 1632 and Mary baptized 21 Aug 1634 were recorded as Goodrich as well in the parish register. His surname was recorded as Goodridge at Watertown, Massachusetts and then about 150-200 years later; depending on the ancestral line, the surname spelling reverted to Goodrich again.