What Was Orpha’s Middle Name?

The Civil War pension file for Riley Rampley (private Company D, 78th Illinois Volunteer Infantry) and his widow was large enough that it was separated into two separate folders at the National Archives. This “Declaration for a Widow’s Pension” signed by Nancy  lists the two underage children who were living with her at the time of the declaration.

The question is:

What is Orpha’s middle name?

The rest is fairly legible.

Including the detail about precisely where she was married–the home of William Newman.

Readers who may know what the middle name could be are encouraged to post it in the comments. This is not one of these problems where I already know the answer–I don’t.

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14 thoughts on “What Was Orpha’s Middle Name?

  1. Brad Scott says:

    I think it starts with an L. It appears to resemble “Leola” or “Leota” with an uncrossed “t”. It is obvious the scribe was having trouble with it. But comparing with the same handwriting above (there’s two hands involved in this document), I see an L at the beginning. Really challenging.

  2. Tracy Rietmann says:

    Finding lots of references to an Orpha Leona Rampley born 29 March 1888-9 in Hancock, IL. in Google searches, but I would have made my closest guess Liesel from the handwriting.

    • mjnrootdig says:

      That’s a good point to make. There may always be online clues that could help with transcription, but my rule of thumb is to try and read it without using the online trees if at all possible.

  3. Barbara Flynn Buehler says:

    If you follow the strokes of the handwriting, you get Iesolt or Iesolde. the victorians used an upward stroke on t(s) at the end of the word.

  4. Patty Gilbert says:

    I bought a book on the cursive writing of the 1800’s-1899. It to learn how to write the alphabet in that style. I bought it so that it might help me read some of the writings of that time.

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