I can never tell just how Ancestry.com updates anything, but the “South Dakota, Birth Index, 1856-1915” is showing as updated, so I decided to search for my aunt and uncle in the database.

The results were not surprising, but they brought to mind three things that are good reminders:

• People can move away for a short period of time–the Rampleys were only in South Dakota long enough to have these three children. They then returned to Illinois.
• Children may be unnamed on their birth certificates. The 1909 birth shown here was apparently unnamed on the birth certificate.
• Names can get spelled in a variety of ways–Louis and Lewis. It’s difficult to spell Mary incorrectly, but it can happen.

This also explained why they were in the 1910 census in a different location. In 1900 and 1920 they were “home.”

“My Aunt and Uncle”

Typically when one refers to a couple as being their “aunt and uncle” it is because one member of the couple is related by birth and the other is related by marriage. Usually I put the one related to me by birth first, just to be consistent. I realize not everyone makes that distinction. In this case it does not really matter which one I list first. Mary (Neill) Rampley is my aunt because she’s my great-grandfather Neill’s sister. Louis Rampley is my uncle because he’s my great-grandmother Neill’s brother.