Hi Your ancestors may have always spelled or signed their name a certain way, but you can bet that those who actually recorded their names — census takers, county clerks and tax collectors — spelled it in various ways. How often have you had your own surname misspelled? Think about it. To insist your name has always been spelled a particular way is to set yourself up for defeat in genealogical research. So during immigration, signing a deed (when the registering person was not fully schooled) or just writing a name as it sounded at the time the person wrote it down can account for many various spelling in a Surname. Sometimes brothers ended up over the years with different Surnames due to these reasons. Anyone who has done Genealogy for a period of time realizes that they are not errors they are just changes made due to human handling the writing of the name. Pat R