To all Johnson/Johnston researchers: What Hal wrote is true... my name is Johnstone. My grandfather added the e to the name. His father was Johnston and his grandfather was Johnson. We have our own theories in our family why that happened. So Hal's lesson is true! Don't get stuck looking at just one spelling. Our family tracks backward from Indiana to Illinois to Michigan to Ohio. Lots of Johnsons in Ohio! I didn't know our name had changed until I started doing genealogy. Keep on looking! Nancy Johnstone Ratay Arthur H Laube wrote: > For years I was side tracked by the t in his name since I only looked at > johnsons - later I found out that many of his records and his parents > records were johnson. In case you haven't noticed there are examples in > the Ohio early census of townships with only johnson in one decade and > then > that same township will have only johnston in another decade... > > > ...One of my wilder speculations was that a line of Johnsons became > Quaker > and dropped the T because it was a symbol of the sword and dagger and > there was one story that the T had been conferred upon a Johnson for > some heroic, bloody deed. Later when some of the line were no longer > Quaker they brought back the T. It can probably never been proven, but > then none to date has disprove it - although there have been cries of > hogwash and so forth. > Good luck to all of those who attempt to pass on a little ancestral lore > to their descendants. Hal > >