Dale: Thank you for your interesting post. I like your 'I-40' corridor theory! Here is a response received from Harvey L. Bottoms you might enjoy. Harvey appears to be an anomaly to the Longbottom family's heritage! Dave Davis St. Louis, MO dda@inlink.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Dave, I have been able to take my line back to the Virginia Longbottom family. It appears that after the 1820 census, the two brothers who were living in Brunswick County, Virginia, both shortened their name to Bottom. The "s" was added most likely through a court clerk's mistake beginning about 1835 in Rutherford County, Tennessee. There was another Bottom individual in Brunswick County from Amelia County Bottom/Bottoms family. This may have led to the confusion with my family. Most records show a middle initial of "L" which I construe to be Long. So if I would have been there, I would be Harvey Long Bottom or Harvey L. Bottom. Harvey Researching the following families: Bottoms, Keas, Stribling, Chambers, Hodges, Golden, Sweeney, Lovelace, Welch, Pettit, Cagle and others. ----------------------------------------------------------------- -----Original Message----- From: DaleBottom@aol.com <DaleBottom@aol.com> To: BOTTOM-L@rootsweb.com <BOTTOM-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Wednesday, March 22, 2000 6:07 PM Subject: Re: [BOTTOM-L] BOTTOM vs BOTTOMS >Dear Dave: > >I am responding to your posting regarding the permutation of BOTTOM being >shortened from LONGBOTTOM in Virginia. There may have been some instance of >it, however I believe it was not a general occurrence and not the source of >the BOTTOM family that resided in Virginia as early as 1623/24. > >I have an extensive family album published in 1970 that traces the LONGBOTTOM >family that arrived in the New England/New York area in the 1660's. >LONGBOTTOM is a name typical of the north of England and is still found in >Yorkshire. By tradition it originated in the family which built the ships >for the invasion of England by William of Normandy. When the land holdings >of England were recorded in the Doomsday Book in 1086 the name was adopted by >this family as descriptive of the ships they made. (Longbottom boats.) > >There are still many LONGBOTTOMS around. There is a coffee company in >Seattle owned by a LONGBOTTOM family, for instance. As is typical, the name >LONGBOTTOM was shortened, however those who are from this family spell it >BOTTUM. There are several families here in the Chicago area with the name >BOTTUM. Those who migrated westward from the East gravitated to the upper >Midwest and upper plains states. You will find the BOTTUM name in the >Dakotas for instance. > >As to the adding of the "S" to BOTTOM, this seems to have occurred as you >suggest by errors in transcription. It seems fairly clear that the early >Virginia settlers' name was BOTTOM. As the BOTTOM families moved westward >and southward from Virginia, there seemed to be a tendency of those going to >the South to add the "S" on the name. I have seen an observation by someone >that the I-40 corridor is a general separation line between those using >BOTTOMS and those using BOTTOM. My ancestors migrated westward through the >Cumberland Gap and settled in the blue grass area of Kentucky, while Kentucky >was still a part of Virginia. Nearly all of my direct ancestors have no "S" >on their name. Having said that, I have seen a family bible of my direct >ancestors where some of the names have and "S." > >It appears that those who migrated into South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, >Arkansas and Texas were of the BOTTOMS proclivity. Those in the Kentucky, >Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska seemed to be of the BOTTOM branch. >There are exceptions of course. > >Sorry for this long epistle, however I believe it is important to not confuse >the BOTTOM line from Virginia with the LONGBOTTOM family of New England. The >material I have is well researched and documented so there is no doubt in my >mind that the LONGBOTTOM family of New England is not connected to the >Virginia BOTTOM line, at least in America. There is the possiblility the >name was separated in England before the immigration to the Colonies. Who >knows. > >Regards, > >Dale Bottom > > >==== BOTTOM Mailing List ==== >Ye Olde Bottom(s) Family >www.intercom.net/user/bbottoms >