This probably is also a question for archeological historians, professional or hobbyist. Can anyone shed light on the widespread use of 'thee' and 'thou' in addressing others. When reading a post from Habichnest on the Monmouth, NJ, list, subject: Slavery in Monmouth Co., the accused in a 1691 trial was addressed as "thou'. Which triggered my question about a family legend. My mother and her siblings always have been under the impression that their mother had been a Quaker before her marriage to a Catholic, because of some of her speech patterns. As a result, I have spent a lot of time looking through Quaker records for tracks of my grandmother's family and ancestors. If using 'thee' and 'thou' was common practice early on, would cultural heritage be ingrained enough so that it took 150-200 years to die out of common use in the middle Atlantc colonies and states? In some research on churches existing in Middlesex and Monmouth Counties in 1750 +/-, one book referred to the Presbyterians practice of addressing others as 'thee' and 'thou'. That was the first time I encountered a description of this practice. Did the Baptists, and maybe the English speaking Dutch Reformed and Pennsylvania Germans also follow this practice? In other words, everyone. The fact that some of my ancestors lived in Chester or Bucks Counties, or certain NJ counties, may mean that they were not neccesarily Quakers - that it was a common method of address among all English speakers at this time. ?? All opinions are welcome. The further back one goes, the harder becomes the nitty-gritty of searching, doesn't it? Ruth in GA