In a message dated 8/27/2007 3:31:45 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, garymarian@comcast.net writes: Guthmann is a good basic German name, and was often anglicized to 'Goodman'. The name Gulhmann looks more like a clerk's error, reading a 't' as an 'l'. Many foreign names were transcribed by a clerk, who was often not looking at the name on paper, not by the way they were written, but how they sounded to the ear of someone who knew only English (sort of). Another example: American dialect played a part in the transmogrification of my 1750s 'Stanborough' family name to the contemporary southern 'Stansberry'. Cheers, Gary in Berkeley Gary is right. We have to remember that county clerks were perhaps one of the few literate persons in the county. When I have time, infrequently these days, I like to read actual deeds--or at least the films the deeds--and I have found lots of boo-boos. But, still they are original documents, so we need to pay attention. Take the name Harris. These days we think--well, how many ways can one spell Harris. One creative clerk in an eastern Kentucky spelled the surname Harris three different ways in one short paragraph deed. Think of the work this person [male, of course] had to do and the tools with which he had to do it. Furthermore, my amateur historian husband says that the water was not very good to drink in lots of places, so alcohol was the preferable drink!!! (I have not looked that fact up, but I do remember reading an old American Heritage article to the effect, Would You Let Your Ancestors in Your Home? There were anecdotes about the looks, the behavior, the customs, etc. of our frontier ancestors. Thank goodness for these county clerks, no matter how they did their jobs!!!) In Granville Co., NC, where I have several colonial roots, the job of county clerk was almost hereditary, passed down from father to son. E.W.Wallace ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour