Stacie wrote: > > okay..I think I told everyone that I was sending off to Belton historical > society for my grandfather's b-certificate...with some help from Cass > co...well they didn't have it but they did send me a copy from a marriage > book (this is my great grandfather and great grandmother)...now I grew up > spelling my maiden name LandIS same with my mother in fact my son also > carries the Landis surname...but according to this..(so far) this is what it > states > > LANDES, George Mary A. Elwell m.Jan.23, 1905 both of Belton. Both of age. > At Belton, by B.E. Dawson, MG 6-291 > > so folks any help you could give me on these 2 would be appreciated..I am > sending off in the morning for a copy of their marriage certificate and will > let everyone know what it says...also sending to the Records Management and > Archives for grandfather's birth certificate > (by the way...on my grandfather's social security application he spelled the > surname LANDIS for both himself and his father...so maybe this is just a > typo in Cass's marriage book?) Not odd at all, Stacie. It could be a typo or if the book was typed it could have been a written error or that may be how the surname was spelled by the person supplying the information. One needs to look at the whole record, including who provided the information and other things, like was the record a transcript. I spent a long time looking through 1860 U.S. census records in southwest Georgia, for my JOHNSON ancestor, only to learn that the family was recorded as JOHNSTON. In 1850, the family was recorded as JOHNSON and in 1870. But, the marriage record for my ancestor in 1855 had his name spelled JOHNSTON. Which is correct? I don't know. The modern lines use JOHNSON. And while I'd been warned over and over again to look for variant spellings, I didn't heed the advice for this family. Now with my WEISS family (who married LANDISes), they deliberately changed the spelling. I'm told that my 2nd GGF decided to do it 'cause he was tired of his name being misprounounced (like WICE). He pronounced it like the Anglican spelling of WISE. In that case, I know both spellings are correct. Did he do it legally via the courts? Nope. -- Karon ********************************************************************* * mailto:boszek@hitter.net * * Web Page: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/karon_bosze/ * * Instant Messenger (AIM): Norak75 * *********************************************************************