I have a question for all of you seasoned Kosciusko County genealogy researchers. Have any of you run across instances where a particular surname evolves over time from including a prefix to not including one, or shifting from one prefix to another? Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about. My 3ggrandmother was a "Vanferson/Vanpherson". Its spelled one of these two ways in various records. Rachel Vanferson died at the young age of 27 in 1878 leaving behind 4 young children. I find a family in the 1870 census, named VANPHERSON, that I believe to be the parents and siblings of Rachel. And the mother in this family is buried next to Rachel in the Union Cemetery in Washington Twp. But before 1870 and after 1878, there is no trace of this family in the Kosciusko County records. But in my exposure to many of the records of Kosciusko County, particularly the marriage records, I will run across a McPHERSON. This is where my question comes from. Are any of you aware of a name possibly evolving from VANPHERSON to McPHERSON? Am I grasping at straws here, or is this a possibility? I've also seen occurrences of names like LAUGHLIN and McLAUGHLIN. Was it possible that families would add or drop a prefix Surname? I'd be curious if any of you had run across something similar to this in our research. Gene Andert Kosciusko County, IN USGenWeb Coordinator http://user.ctlnet.com/gan155/kosco.htm [email protected] Listowner [email protected]