I'm descended from the Oregon McBees (from MD via OH and MO). My father has always said MACK' Bee (emphasis on the MACK) when speaking of his relatives. I have samples of my grandmother's and greatgrandmother's handwriting - they both wrote it with the raised "c" and two dots underneath; the MO branch of the family reports that their grandparents wrote it the same way. According to my Scottish country dance teacher, this is a Scottish custom denoting that the "a" has been dropped - an indicator to say Mack rather than Mick. Susan