In a message dated 4/27/2005 11:14:42 AM Pacific Standard Time, bob.powell2@comcast.net writes: of Jean Baptiste Ladoux's name. (He spelled it with an a in later life) What I'm not sure of is: (a) how the record keepers could have mispelled it, and (b) Marie's name. +++++++++++++++++ Almost the first rule of genealogy is "don't sweat the spelling!" there was no such thing as a right or wrong way to spell a surname for a very long time - as long as it was clear who was meant, that is. Most of the records we have for our ancestors show their names SPELLED BY SOMEONE ELSE when they spoke the names to that person. Since our St. Anne peole spoke French as their first language and they were often speaking to native Egnish-speakers . . . the fact that they worked with different phonetic values for each letter resulted in many inconsistencies. . . to put it mildly! Not to metntion that many of our ancestors and their contemporaries did not read or write easily - they had often gorwn up on remote farms where little schooling was available. So the classic advice has been to go with the flow of the variant spellings as long as you can make some phonetic connection - and use other indicia such as birth dates, parents, marriage dates, etc., to ascertain if you are on the right track or not. The LEDOUX, LEBLOW, LEBEAU, LADOUX, etc variants - and the PAYET, PAYETTE, PAILLE, etc variants referenced in this recent exchange are cases in point. Whew! This genealogy stuff is HARD WORK. Salut to all! Ginny Crawford list admin

Ginny, I know you're right - and Ladoux doesn't bother me because I know from childhood how to pronounce it no matter how it's spelled. What has me confused, since I don't speak French, is how to pronounce Marie's last name. The various spellings coming from official documents and written records are: Paille, Palle, Paillain, Parlle, Payai, Payey, Pailline, Padlen, Payer, Paye, Payet and Payette. With your knowledge of pronouncing French names, what would be your best guess how Marie's last name MIGHT be pronounced? Also, do you have any idea how I might go about finding out who her parents were? And I understand that she had one brother, who was killed in an accident. (This is my mother's mother's mother's line, so I am especially interested in tracing Marie's heritage.) Frances -----Original Message----- From: VCrawf@aol.com [mailto:VCrawf@aol.com] Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2005 10:11 PM To: ILSTANNE-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [ILSTANNE] spelling surnames - whew! In a message dated 4/27/2005 11:14:42 AM Pacific Standard Time, bob.powell2@comcast.net writes: of Jean Baptiste Ladoux's name. (He spelled it with an a in later life) What I'm not sure of is: (a) how the record keepers could have mispelled it, and (b) Marie's name. +++++++++++++++++ Almost the first rule of genealogy is "don't sweat the spelling!" there was no such thing as a right or wrong way to spell a surname for a very long time - as long as it was clear who was meant, that is. Most of the records we have for our ancestors show their names SPELLED BY SOMEONE ELSE when they spoke the names to that person. Since our St. Anne peole spoke French as their first language and they were often speaking to native Egnish-speakers . . . the fact that they worked with different phonetic values for each letter resulted in many inconsistencies. . . to put it mildly! Not to metntion that many of our ancestors and their contemporaries did not read or write easily - they had often gorwn up on remote farms where little schooling was available. So the classic advice has been to go with the flow of the variant spellings as long as you can make some phonetic connection - and use other indicia such as birth dates, parents, marriage dates, etc., to ascertain if you are on the right track or not. The LEDOUX, LEBLOW, LEBEAU, LADOUX, etc variants - and the PAYET, PAYETTE, PAILLE, etc variants referenced in this recent exchange are cases in point. Whew! This genealogy stuff is HARD WORK. Salut to all! Ginny Crawford list admin ==== ILSTANNE Mailing List ==== Please tell your fellow St. Anne area researchers about this list. To join, an interested person should send an eMail to ILSTANNE-L-request@rootsweb.com with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject line or message box. ============================== New! Family Tree Maker 2005. Build your tree and search for your ancestors at the same time. Share your tree with family and friends. Learn more: http://landing.ancestry.com/familytreemaker/2005/tour.aspx?sourceid=14599&ta rgetid=5429