Let me put in my two cents worth. In my family it has happened with several branches of the family. My GG Father John Kelly brought his family of wife, 10 boys and one girl to the US from County Cork Ireland about 1867. Two or three of the boys changed the spelling of their names to Kelley. In my own fathers family two of his brothers changed the spelling of their names to Kelley. In the case of my uncles it was for business reasons. At the time there was a lot of prejudice against Irishman and Kelley was accepted as the English version of the spelling of the name. It was better for their business if people thought they were from England. ----Original Message----- From: Christopher P Kelley <ckelley84@juno.com> To: KELLEY-L@rootsweb.com <KELLEY-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Saturday, July 24, 1999 10:43 AM Subject: Spelling >I was reading through past messages from the list a little while ago when >I came across the large spelling discussion from March, and a question >became evident to me. >My family's version of the Kelley/Kelly schism (for want of a better >term) says that a distant relative got mad at the family and left, >changing his name from "Kelly" to "Kelley." I don't doubt the story's >authenticity, but the question is whether this is isolated to our group >only, or if its a legend back through the ages. >Comment on the "rebel ancestor" theory is invited. > >Chris Kelley >ckelley84@juno.com > > >==== KELLEY Mailing List ==== >KELLEY Family Most Wanted Webpage >http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~donkelly/index.htm >