I had the same experience with some of my ancestors. When they came over
from Germany in 1868 the name was spelled Wientje on the ship manifest. They
were nowhere to be found until 1874 in New York with the name spelled
Wientge. The mystery was where they were between 1868 and 1874.
I knew there were others named Wientge who were in St. Louis so I tried the
1870 St. Louis index. The only possibility was A. Wintze so someone looked
it up for me. Sure enough it was them along with two more sons. A. was for
Albrecht. My ggg grandmother's name was correct (Anna). Their ages and his
occupation was correct but oh what the enumerator did to some of the
children's names! Adolph was A. Aoph. Albrecht (the son) was spelled
Allricpt. One of the other sons was August. It was spelled Augusta just
like one of the sisters. M had been written in for the sex and then changed
to F.
The other strange thing was that the St. Louis census was taken in August and
the New York one in June. Adolph was counted in both with the same age and
occupation.
When looking for ancestors you need a very open mind for the spellings and
you must search down every avenue. It's worth the time and the effort when
you break down those brick walls.
Good luck to everone!
Judy B.