In the wee hours of the night of Sept 30th as the Government Shutdown loomed, a bold move was made by the staff of the Library of Congress. Knowing that they would be furloughed at midnight, the pushed through a request that I had first submitted in July of last year to correct a mistake of history.

This particular mistake was made in the assumption by early librarians that the Babb surname was a derivative of the Surname Babbitt. When I first heard of this, I knew instantly that it was simply wrong. Additional research showed that the Babbitt families were not even from the same part of England as our Babb(s).

DNA evidence was also conclusive on this matter and there was no doubt that their error needed to be corrected. At that time, I requested a change to their index system to remove us from the Babbitt umbrella. A new computer system that went live July 1st of this year delayed the request, but so that no additional delays would be encountered, they managed to approve and push through this change.

The staff is currently on furlough, but the decision is clear. I’m very proud to say that the extensive work that I have conducted, with the help of all of you, served as the watershed moment in their decision. We have more than 100K references and not a single Babbitt.

I wish the Babbitt family the best, but we are free at last!