Dan, Agreed, the surname Köhly/Koehly does exist. A < google.com > search < köhly + genealogy > offers a number of general pages and only a few specific pages. Rootsweb and its related WorldConnect shows a number of individuals with that surname but under the Koehly spelling none of the listings have any location associated with them. I would imagine that Wendelin would have some ideas about possible locations of the surname in the Baden area. I did not check the German telephone book to see what PLZs were associated with the surname today. And, I agree with you that in various Germanic areas it was normal when the wife had inherited assets, normally a farm, that the husband would change his surname to that of the farm....which happened to be his wife's surname, also. I would not state that this did or did not happen in the Baden area; my knowledge is not that wide. I have seen this mostly to the north in the Hannoverian and Prussian lands where various farmers held the occupational title of Colon/Colonus and where the positioning of "Colonatsvertrag" did exist. I understand in the Württembergische area a change in surname with no connection to Colonatsvertrag status could happen but this usually was of a person with an "upper" position, an intellectual. This change of surname was similar to the French "dit"/called surname which differs from the peasant farmer situation and as with the French "dit", the sons might or might not have continued the original surname, the changed surname or even a third choice of surname. Considering the closeness of the two surnames, Koenig and Koehly, I would still guess the actual situation was a mere mental or spelling error. Do you have a copy of the Church Register Koehly mention so that it could be uploaded for one of the German-Script Specialists on the List to go to its URL and take a look at it....or maybe a small e-mail attachment directly to Wendelin. With the difference in telephone and ISP costs in Germany as compared to the US, I would not suggest any large or long attachment. But I agree that the answer might be in additional Renchen films needed to be rented, particularly the Familienbuch film. djweber [email protected] ---------------------------- ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dan Bravard" <[email protected]> >I forgot to add one thing to the mix. Apparently, the family name persists > of Koehly to this day in the US. So something significant occurred, > misspelling or not. I did remember one little factoid from my research on > a > line of mine that came from Westphalia. If a father-in-law had no living > sons to take the farm once he died he would often bequeth it to a > son-in-law. The son-in-law would then change his name to the in-law's. > All > the descendants would then have the new surname, too. > > I just gotta keep digging I suppose. > > Dan

DJW: I think that's a great idea to check with some of the other old German Script researchers. I am requesting a consult then from anyone else with experience in reading old German script. Perhaps "off-line" or better-said "off-list" would be better. I don't have a Website to upload to but I can scan the photocopies I have and hope that they are still legible. Anyone willing to give it a whirl? Thanks. Dan ----- Original Message ----- From: "djweber" <[email protected]> To: "Dan Bravard" <[email protected]> Cc: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, February 02, 2005 10:03 PM Subject: Re: [Ortenau] Koehnig/Koehly same surname? > Dan, > > Agreed, the surname Köhly/Koehly does exist. A < google.com > search < > köhly + genealogy > offers a number of general pages and only a few specific > pages. Rootsweb and its related WorldConnect shows a number of individuals > with that surname but under the Koehly spelling none of the listings have > any location associated with them. > > I would imagine that Wendelin would have some ideas about possible locations > of the surname in the Baden area. I did not check the German telephone book > to see what PLZs were associated with the surname today. > > And, I agree with you that in various Germanic areas it was normal when the > wife had inherited assets, normally a farm, that the husband would change > his surname to that of the farm....which happened to be his wife's surname, > also. I would not state that this did or did not happen in the Baden area; > my knowledge is not that wide. I have seen this mostly to the north in the > Hannoverian and Prussian lands where various farmers held the occupational > title of Colon/Colonus and where the positioning of "Colonatsvertrag" did > exist. > > I understand in the Württembergische area a change in surname with no > connection to Colonatsvertrag status could happen but this usually was of a > person with an "upper" position, an intellectual. This change of surname > was similar to the French "dit"/called surname which differs from the > peasant farmer situation and as with the French "dit", the sons might or > might not have continued the original surname, the changed surname or even a > third choice of surname. > > Considering the closeness of the two surnames, Koenig and Koehly, I would > still guess the actual situation was a mere mental or spelling error. Do > you have a copy of the Church Register Koehly mention so that it could be > uploaded for one of the German-Script Specialists on the List to go to its > URL and take a look at it....or maybe a small e-mail attachment directly to > Wendelin. With the difference in telephone and ISP costs in Germany as > compared to the US, I would not suggest any large or long attachment. > > But I agree that the answer might be in additional Renchen films needed to > be rented, particularly the Familienbuch film. > > djweber > [email protected] > ---------------------------- > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Dan Bravard" <[email protected]> > > > >I forgot to add one thing to the mix. Apparently, the family name persists > > of Koehly to this day in the US. So something significant occurred, > > misspelling or not. I did remember one little factoid from my research on > > a > > line of mine that came from Westphalia. If a father-in-law had no living > > sons to take the farm once he died he would often bequeth it to a > > son-in-law. The son-in-law would then change his name to the in-law's. > > All > > the descendants would then have the new surname, too. > > > > I just gotta keep digging I suppose. > > > > Dan > > >