I joined the list because RootsWeb's surname helper reminded me about Soundex, and our HIATT family have a generational story about some earlier ancestor surnamed "Haught" or "von Hoyt" who performed some kind of deed for an English king, and was rewarded -- supposedly with money, possibly with a knighthood, possibly with land. I've been lurking on the list, just watching to see what was posted. My husband is a 7th-great-grandson of John HIETT, born abt. 1674, Quaker immigrant (who was himself the child of German immigrants to England). The surname spelling shifted to HIATT among the descendents. Does anybody on this list of HOYT family have HIATT or HIETT ancestors? Do you have the same "family story" that we have? Bob's grandfather died before he was 10, and he himself left home at 13, but his memory of Grandfather Enos Riley HIATT's telling the story is clear, and his father, DeLoe R. HIATT, Sr. told the story using the same wording. Bob's told our children and grandchildren the same story. (Enos was born in 1861, DeLoe Hiatt Sr. in 1896, my husband Bob [DeLoe Hiatt, Jr.] in 1927. Migration history: Pennsylvania>NC>Ohio>Indiana>then Bob's been all over the world.) And until a few months ago, we figured that the reality of that story (if any) must have happened in the 1800's -- until our research on Bob's grandparents tied us into a large body of HIETT/HIATT research, back to the 1600's. Can anyone shed some light? Thanks for reading. Regards, Karen King Hiatt Ohio