Quote Originally Posted by CelticSire View Post
Another point to remember when doing genealogical research is to not get dissuaded by minor variations in spelling of names. When our ancestors came ashore at Ellis Island, Baltimore, or any other point of entry, many of them did not speak, read or write in English. Consequently, when they pronounced their surname in whatever language or accent they spoke, the person who was wrtiting the entry into the register spelled it how it sounded. The same holds true for many early census records. I have census records with my great-grandfather's last name spelled three different ways, and all in the same small town in Kentucky.
There are other difficulties as well. Take, for example, my third-great grandmother. Apparently her brother, who was a military officer stationed in Canada at the time, had threatened that if she married my grandfather, he would kill the both of them with his own sword! My ancestors were so concerned that he'd make good on this threat that they traveled under assumed names and didn't begin using their real names again until they had made their way West.