You are correct. For the most part, there was no rhyme or reason. The one possible exception to that which I am aware of is the everyone from census takers to county court officials seemed to have spelled the name as they saw fit. In some cases, but certainly not all, the families merely acquiesced to the way their names were being "officially" spelled. David Rains WHAWJA@aol.com wrote: >I don't know about other families but my grandfather spelled his >"Boatwright" while one of his brothers left the "w" out. To my knowledge, there was no >rhyme or reason. > > >==== BOATRIGHT Mailing List ==== >Any off subject questions or problems PLEASE >email me privately at: MeMeC@alltel.net >Always try to be Fair, Honest and Kind! > > >