Hi everybody, The other night, I was sharing some family geneaolgy records with an elderly family member. We happened to be looking at the 1850 Federal Census listing for Montgomery County, IN and I was showing the listing for an ancestor, John Kelley. I know it is the listing for him, because 3 of his children are still living in the household and 3 others are in the farms on either side of him. Our branch of the Kelley's has always spelled the last name with 'ey' at the end. However, on the listing it was just 'y'. I had noticed this the first time I saw it but didn't think it was a big deal since all the rest of the info matched. I just assumed that the census taker who came to the door spelled the name the way it sounded to him. My elderly relative, however, was quite upset, and absolutely sure that no matter how much of the other information matched, this gentleman could not be 'our John Kelley'. Why? Because the last name was spelled without the 'ey'. I am told by my relative that to spell Kelley with just the 'y', indicates that the bearer of the name was an Irish Catholic, and that the 'ey' ending indicates that he/she was a Protestant Irishman, and no self-respecting protestant Kelley would allow the name to be spelled with just the Y. Is my elderly relative imagining things? Or am I the only one who has never heard this before? Thanks, Jan ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]