The Delima

Anyone reading about Violett’s relatives is probably thoroughly confused unless you are a member of this big extended family. Some of you remember that some of the SamPsons spelled their name with a P in the middle. They were the descendants of Bill Samson’s nephew, Tom SamPson.

See, Eli Samson, who was born in Ohio and migrated through Missouri, Kansas, Plattsmouth, Nebraska, then to Haigler, and on to Washington state… (Got that?) had several children. The original name was NOT spelled with a P in the middle because if you look at the 1880 census in Plattsmouth, Cass County, Nebraska, you will find this family living there with their names all spelled without the P. And if you look further, you will find Eli’s father, James Samson still living in Ohio where his father David Samson had been one of the first settlers in the lower Scioto Valley of Ohio. They all spelled their names without the P.

The P appeared in the family name on the 1860 & 1870 census in Brown County, Kansas but disappeared again on the 1880 census in Plattsmouth, Nebraska. On the 1900 census in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, it was back in the Eli SamPson name. In 1910 when they show up on the census in Orting, Washington it was gone again.

The P doesn't appear again in the children’s names until sometime between 1920 and 1930 when Thomas Samson and Edna lived in Haigler and his nephew lived on Indian Creek, Dundy County, Nebraska, with the Joseph Ham family. The nephew, Thomas Sampson, began spelling his name with a P.

It seems that the only "Haigler" Samson family that has the P in it comes from that time. So, I’m thinking that the previous P came from a census taker, who wrote it down wrong. But the P that appears between 1920 and 1930 was intentional.

The rumor that it was changed so the mailman wouldn’t deliver the uncle’s mail to the nephew makes sense. So if anyone knows the answer to this question, we would all like to know.