Maybe they just had the "wrong war?" Although this actually did happen in my family (bef WWI), we have to remember that the Germans were none too popular in parts of this country during the Revolutionary War. <G> But, of course, there's also the "right story, wrong family" possibility. Were there any other relatives with German sounding names around the turn of the 20th century? I've seen several cases where "cousins" "adopted" family stories as their own, probably never thinking of exactly where the story came from. Pat In Tucson -----Original Message----- From: gen-newbie-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:gen-newbie-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Connie Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2012 4:44 PM To: gen-newbie@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [GN] Family Lore and Genealogy Philip Schmitt was born in 1760, Dutchess County, New York, the son of Johan Jacob Schmitt who was born in Affalterbach in what is now Germany. The latter immigrated to the Americas in about 1752. Philip Schmitt/Schmidt emigrated to Canada from the colonies before his children were born. One son was called Mathias Smith (1786-1868), and apparently his brother and four sisters also used the name Smmith, and all further descendants were referred to as Smith, rather than Schmitt or Schmidt. But family lore (this is my maternal grandfather's maternal family) is that they changed their name during World War I in order to avoid having a German sounding name. Maybe that was the reason why it was changed originally, I simply don't know, but it certainly was before the first world war by more than a few years. Connie L

I think it's quite possible they had the wrong war, and as for right story, wrong family ... I simply don't know. The adoption of family stories seems quite plausible to me. When I first started doing this, I believed the name change story, and ended up being surprised because it clearly wasn't true, at least time-wise. In fact, it was someone on Gen-Newbie who questioned it when I repeated it. Connie Maybe they just had the "wrong war?" Although this actually did happen in my family (bef WWI), we have to remember that the Germans were none too popular in parts of this country during the Revolutionary War. <G> But, of course, there's also the "right story, wrong family" possibility. Were there any other relatives with German sounding names around the turn of the 20th century? I've seen several cases where "cousins" "adopted" family stories as their own, probably never thinking of exactly where the story came from. Pat In Tucson