Hi All, Once I worked with someone who's name was (shall I call her Smith). Everyone told her she did not look like a Smith. When her dad died, they had trouble collecting his insurance because his name was not Smith. His name was hard to pronounce there for he decided (not legally) to change his name. When he married he did so under his "new name" and his wife did not know it. I am sure this has happened more than once. Elaine of Pa. ---"by way of Genealogy Records Service <info@genrecords.com>" <RalphK@aol.com> wrote: > > > In a message dated 5/31/98 9:20:39 PM, brodey@monroe.lib.mi.us wrote: > > <<At Ellis Rothe became Rode. Meier- also from Germany is pronounced Meyer. > > Meier became Meyer or Meyers or a variation of many other spellings at Ellis > > Island. The transcribers could not speak all the languages and our ancestors > > could not speak or write enough English to correct the transciber.>> > > Bette Sutton Rodey and GenTippers, > > With all do respect for Bette's opinion, I feel that it is not correct to > blame the clerks at Ellis Island for surname changes. There is plenty of > evidence that immigrants had to have papers upon entry and their names were > spelled out correctly. The clerks simply copied the names. If your ancestors > used an Americanized version of their original name we must look else where > for reasons. > > Ralph Komives > ________ > web page revised 4-20-98 > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > <http://members.aol.com/RalphK/DocumentSearch.html>http://members.aol.com/R > alphK/DocumentSearch.html > Document Searches in Washington, D.C. Area and Annapolis, MD. > > > ==== GenTips Mailing List ==== > Don't forget to stop by our business web page for FREE genealogy forms and charts! We are adding more all the time!!!! > http://www.genrecords.com > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com