"fsuedu" <fsuedu@hotmail.com> wrote: > > My G-Grandfather changed the spelling of his name from > > Sutherland to Sutherlin and back again nearly yearly for a decade. > > He also changed his residence frequently. Perhaps he was > > staying one step ahead of the rent and/or bill collector. I dunno. > > i'm with sandra on this one...depends on the time period. and can > be for any number of reasons....my great-great grandfather came to > ny in the 1800's with documentation and a letter from the police > "chief" in his hometown in germany (we still have this stuff), and > lo and behold, when he got to ellis island, whoever filled out his > forms just decided that his name was easier to pronouce if spelled > another way and just changed it on the spot. if we didn't have > those original documents, we'd be up a creek trying to go back to > the german records.... Sandra and I have already had a conversation about her grandfather's name changes. She ascribes a deeper motive to them than I do - I think that they were merely random changes without special reason or meaning, the result of carelessness, perhaps illiteracy or - in particular - lack of any spelling standards. As for your belief that your great-great grandfather's name got changed at Ellis Island, this is almost without doubt not the case. "The Name Got Changed at Ellis Island" is one of the most prolific myths in American genealogy. The fact is that elaborate measures were taken to make sure that names were correctly rendered. Below are a some links to expert articles which will provide ample documentation supporting my contention. Two observations: First, you say your g-g-grandfather arrived in America "in the 1880s." Ellis Island did not open until 1892. If your ancestor arrived before that year, then we can be positive his name did not get changed at Ellis Island. If he arrived between 1892 and 1900, then the records are available (maybe even on line) and you can check to see whether his "name was correctly rendered or, as you believe, was changed by an arbitrary clerk. Second, suppose a slip-up did occur and someone's name on your ancestors arrival papers was incorrectly rendered. Did this mean that he was obligated to use the incorrect name the rest of his life? Of course not. As you will note if you read some of the articles linked below, names were easily changed, sometimes on purpose, sometimes not, and in a variety of ways. If you really did get a bummer at the immigration site, then all you had to do was select another name more to your liking. BTW: My observation is that if the "Ellis Island Name Change Myth" isn't a creation of Hollywood, the film industry certainly has been perpetuated it. "Godfather II" depicts officials forcing the young Godfather to take the name of his village, perhaps a necessary plot developer but one that is historically inaccurate. As interesting is that back in the 1930s many of the gangster movies featured immigrants being led or forced into lives of crime. At some point in the movie you could count on the protagonist including this line in his tale of woe: "The name got changed at Ellis Island." One week when I was laid up and passed the time watching the classic movie channel, I heard Humphrey Bogart say it twice - in two different movies shown only a day apart! If you doubt my word on Ellis Island name changes - the lack thereof - try these sites: "Name Changes at Ellis Island" is a topic for RootsWeb's Expert Advice, this one by Myra Vanderpool Gormley in response to the question, "Were names actually changed at Ellis Island?": "No documented case proves that any immigrant's name was changed by Ellis Island officials." (In other words, if any name did actually get changed at Ellis Island, so far no one has been able to prove it.) There is much more. See "The Myth of Ellis Island Name Changes": www.ancestry.com/library/view/columns/eastman/3893.asp?rc=locale% 7E&us=0 A similar article: "Ellis Island Name Change, Fact or Fiction?": http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/ancmag/4675.asp "They Changed Our Name at Ellis Island," by Donna Przecha: "How Spellings Really Changed." In this article, expert Donna Przecha dispels some common myths about name-changing at various points of immigration. http://www.genealogy.com/genealogy/88_donna.html?Welcome=1038768684 and: Myth or Not?," by Eva Holmes http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/italian_genealogy/79248 See also "Myths, Hoaxes and Scams" at Cyndi's List <www.cyndislist.com>. Look at Myth #7, "Our Name Got Changed at Ellis Island," where there are several other name-change links. Regards, Richard "Richard A. Pence" <richardpence@pipeline.com>