I have often been heard to state that spelling in times past was a bit more "flexible" that it is today. But back then, people wrote down what they heard, rather than worrying overmuch about a specific spelling of a name. The example from my own family history that I like to use is the varying colonial era spellings of one particular surname: Bigelow. The spellings for that name run the gamut from the very short Biglo to the much longer than necessary Biggalough.
The Heraldic Journal, Vol. II, pp. 129-130, gives us a lot of biographical and genealogical information about the person memorialized in the next tombstone (along with two of my own explanatory footnotes):
Mr. Joseph Lasinby, Died Sept. 9th 1774 Aged 80 years. The family of Leasonbee, Lasenbee, Lasinby, or however the name may be varied, is, we believe, not recorded by Savage.[*] Still, Thomas and Mercy L. of Boston had born here, Thomas, 21 January, 1688; Benjamin, 27 August, 1691; Joseph, 20 August, 1694; Mary, 22 April, 1696, and Margaret, 5 March, 1699. Thomas probably d. about 5 April, 1717, when his will is dated. His widow Mercy survived till near 30 December, 1732, when the heirs signed a division of their father’s estate. These were Thomas L. and Zeruiah his wife, Joseph L. and wife Elizabeth, widow Mercy Bant, and Mary, wife of Alexander Chamberlain.
Thomas and Zeruiah Lazenby had a son Thomas, born 31 March, 1725, who died apparently in 1746, when his father administered his estate.
Joseph Lazenby m. 1st, Mary Proctor, 29 April, 1719, and had Joseph, b. 6 February, 1720; Mary, 26 May, 1721; Mary, 29 December 1722;[**] Benjamin, 10 June, 1724; Benjamin, 26 March, 1726; Elizabeth, 3 June, 1727; Samuel, 19 June, 1728; Mary, 11 August 1729.[**] His wife d. 6 November, 1730, aged 37. He m. 2d, Elizabeth Farmer, 1 July, 1731, and had Benjamin, b. 29 September, 1732; Thomas, b. 19 February, 1733-4; Mary, 3 October, 1735.
He died, as above shown, 9 September, 1774.
Per The Heraldic Journal, the motto scroll reads “By the Name of Lazinby” (Alas, even enlarging the picture above sufficiently does not give us enough clarity to read the scroll. Again, a downside to having to stay on the paved paths in the burying ground and photographing the heraldry from a distance.)
Bolton’s An American Armory cites: Lasinby. Gules a fess between three cushions argent tasselled or overall a bend sable goutty d’or.
Crest: A demi-unicorn holding a heart.
His citation is this stone in this burying ground. “’By the name of Lazinby.’ Joseph Lasinby of Boston d. 1774, aged 80 years, Granary Burying Ground, Park St. wall, Boston. Heral. Jour., vol. 2, p. 129.”
* A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, by James Savage, former President of the Massachusetts Historical Society (originally published in Boston, 1860-1862).
** When a child died, its name was usually given to the next-born child of the same sex. This occurred in New England in 80% of all cases where another baby of the same sex was born following the death of a child. Here in the Lazenby family, you can see that this occurred twice.
Thomas and Zeruiah Lazenby had a son Thomas, born 31 March, 1725, who died apparently in 1746, when his father administered his estate.
Joseph Lazenby m. 1st, Mary Proctor, 29 April, 1719, and had Joseph, b. 6 February, 1720; Mary, 26 May, 1721; Mary, 29 December 1722;[**] Benjamin, 10 June, 1724; Benjamin, 26 March, 1726; Elizabeth, 3 June, 1727; Samuel, 19 June, 1728; Mary, 11 August 1729.[**] His wife d. 6 November, 1730, aged 37. He m. 2d, Elizabeth Farmer, 1 July, 1731, and had Benjamin, b. 29 September, 1732; Thomas, b. 19 February, 1733-4; Mary, 3 October, 1735.
He died, as above shown, 9 September, 1774.
Per The Heraldic Journal, the motto scroll reads “By the Name of Lazinby” (Alas, even enlarging the picture above sufficiently does not give us enough clarity to read the scroll. Again, a downside to having to stay on the paved paths in the burying ground and photographing the heraldry from a distance.)
Bolton’s An American Armory cites: Lasinby. Gules a fess between three cushions argent tasselled or overall a bend sable goutty d’or.
Crest: A demi-unicorn holding a heart.
His citation is this stone in this burying ground. “’By the name of Lazinby.’ Joseph Lasinby of Boston d. 1774, aged 80 years, Granary Burying Ground, Park St. wall, Boston. Heral. Jour., vol. 2, p. 129.”
* A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, by James Savage, former President of the Massachusetts Historical Society (originally published in Boston, 1860-1862).
** When a child died, its name was usually given to the next-born child of the same sex. This occurred in New England in 80% of all cases where another baby of the same sex was born following the death of a child. Here in the Lazenby family, you can see that this occurred twice.
"Bond. James Bond." [T]
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