Hello everyone. I joined this group not as a direct desc, but as a relative. It looks like we should have a Salem family reunion sometime! I have Colby, Sargent, Bliss, Cogswell, Emerson & others in my line & my husband has Varney, Proctor & Choate. We share Perkins. Barbara K-T in San Antonio, TX Hi - what is your Sargent connection? I am not descended, but have an interest in obtaining more information on the Peter Sargent who was a judge on the court of Oyer and Terminer. He later married the widow of the Governor Sir William Phips (my ancestor's brother). There also appears to have been a William Sargent as judge - at least the name is mentioned at one time or another - though could possible be an error. Wondered what his connection was to Peter if any? Thanks! Also - along the name change lines. I find my Cloyes (as in Peter, husband to Sarah Towne) family name recorded as Cloyse, Cloice, Cloys, Clayes, etc. In family records along Peter's line it was always recorded as 'Clayes', but elsewhere as variations of Cloyes. I agree that some variations were spelling errors, some were deliberate changes in names, but I think not so much to distance themselves from the 'witch' stuff (as it happened all over, not just in Salem area), but to distinguish various family branches and individuals when you often had generation after generation of 'John Smiths' all related. My Phipps lines (as in Governor Sir William Phips of 'witchcraft fame') also had 2 widely used spellings and I have found that for the most part Sir William's branch used 'Phips' until the Revolutionary War when a second 'p' then seems to appear in all records. Another Phipps family (possibly unrelated to Sir William's line) in Massachusetts during the 1600's routinely used the 2 'p's in the spelling of their names. Stephanie Shenandoah Valley, VA [email protected] http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/w/a/l/Stephanie-J-Walker/index.html Currently collecting/sharing these surnames BARTHOLOMEW (<1800, NY), CLAYES/CLOYES, CUPPERNALL, CURTIS (CT), FAIRBANKS, GENT/JENT, PARKHILL, PEPPER, PHIPPS, THOMPSON (VT, CT), WALKER (MA,NY), WATSON (MA) **************************************************************** "Listen to the footsteps that echo behind when you walk alone." *****************************************************************