Hi Bruce: Agree that a sense of humor is really necessary when doing genealogy. My earliest known Smith was a Nicol Smith b. circa 1747 in Shetland. Not sure I will ever be able to get his ancestor as great probability it is a Nicol or Nicolson surname. Patrynomics were in use then. With my G.G. grandfather Smith, the name of Laurence was introduced and it was a popular name for many cousins. So maybe Nicol's father was a Laurence?? Laurence had a brother Nicol and a lst cousin Nicol. The families often named the lst born son after his grandfather. Thus a family with 6 sons might each name their lst born son after his grandfather. Makes the sorting out a wee bit more than maddening. I asked my cousin in Shetland about this and he informed me that nicknames were often used by employers and family - none which would be on record! My Dad took part in the Shetland DNA Project and there is a connection to the Nicholson line but no idea where. One of the Saints in Shetland was a Laurence and it a fairly popular name there. It has been handed down to present times in the family. FYI there were 195 Smiths with Laurence forename; only 26 with forename Nicol and over 400 with forename James. My 3x g. grandfather was named James Smith. Shetland is small and the most prevalent surname is Smith. Not an easy task sorting them out. Lauraine > > From: Bruce Jackson <[email protected]> > Date: 2008/11/22 Sat PM 12:01:46 CST > To: [email protected] > Subject: [CAN-USA-MIG] Lauraine / Smiths > > Lauraine wrote: > While googling in Wisconsin for a SMITH (do not laugh) > > No Lauraine, we have to laugh to get through looking for our Smiths or > we'd never make it.My Smith lines were here early on and kept marrying > into the same families.We will figure it out in time--- what a tangled > mess we have.So go ahead and laugh and > then say a prayer for us so we find them while we can share it. > Christine > Our Smiths were in Mass., New York,Wisconsin,Iowa,Minnesota and then all > over.Some of the off shoots went south and then west. > When you want to respond to a query or comment posted on this List, I find it MUCH easier to post a new message -- remembering to include the SUBJECT from the post you are responding to !! Please make sure there is a SURNAME or place-name in the Subject. > > To search the archives: > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/search?path=CAN-USA-MIGRATION > The information page is: > http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/Immigration/CAN-USA-MIGRATION.html > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >