Hi Isabel, "V" and "F", are linguistically in the same location of the mouth. One is with sound and one is the F is silent--actually with air blowing out, but considered silent. It is very likely that they are the same surnames beginning with either of those letters. You'd have to find some history with that. Keep looking, or maybe you have it. Find which generation made the change and somehow find that they were truly the children of the ones who spelled the name with "V". We all know that it can change from sibling to sibling, or from clerk to clerk. My family changed from Bickel to Pickel, with the same situation with the silent or letter with sound, but I think this could have been upon arrival in this country. Since that time everyone has been Pickel or variations of the spelling on the rest of the name--Pickell, Pickel, Bickle Beickel etc--all of us being from what is to me, the Pickel family. It creates a challenge to find them, though, but it's possible to do so. Good luck hunting. Helen In a message dated 3/15/2009 5:06:35 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, bbffrrpp@comcast.net writes: Hi Isabel, Here is the article. When I did a search for "Varnum," it came up, but you need then to find the words: 1660's Lowell farm .. in the subject of the article: http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_11885945?IADID=Search-www.lowellsun.com-www.lowell sun.com If you are asking about how close Lowell is to Andover, I can say that, if you were driving on a major highway (Rt.495), it would probably be a 15-20 minute drive (depending on who was driving). :o) Someone else would need to tell if VARNUM and FARNUM are variations on the same name. Betty ----- Original Message ----- From: "Isabel Gilmore" <iagilmore@sbcglobal.net> To: <genmassachusetts@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 3:24 PM Subject: [GENMASSACHUSETTS] Varnum surname-Lowell newspaper > Betty, In my ancestry , I have a Francis Varnum Bradford b abt 1843 Wilton > NH & he has a paternal grandmother Phebe Farnum, & a maternal great x 3 > grandmother Hannah Farnum b 1668 ma. to Samuel Holt from the Andover MA > area, close to the Lowell area. ( I think this is nearby as I look at my > map, --Since I'm on the west coast this is what it looks like to me but I > really can't tell may because our state borders are farther away from each > moreso than back east ). But, my question is: how do I find the article > re: VARNUM in this newspaper?-I downloaded the website, but couldn't find > the right heading to click on. Thanks in advance, Isabelle P. S Are the > names Varnum & Farnum of the same name family? > > > ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to GENMASSACHUSETTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message **************Need a job? Find employment help in your area. (http://yellowpages.aol.com/search?query=employment_agencies&ncid=emlcntusyelp00000005)