Recently I have
had several discussions about name changes taking place as immigrants enter the
United States through Ellis Island.
Let’s bottom line this: it didn’t happen. The Immigration Service maintained a staff of
bilingual clerks at Ellis Island in order to accurately record the names of
immigrants as they passed through the various check points. In addition, ship Captains kept a very
accurate passenger list or manifest with the names of passengers.
After immigrants entered the country, it
is very likely they may have anglicized or simply changed their names. A case in point here is Sherburne County is
the man who decided there were too many Andersons in the area. He went through the county court and legally
changed his name. Later his son went
through the same process because the son was born before the name change and so
also had to legally change his last name to fit the new name of his father.
Furthermore, don’t let a different
spelling of a last name discourage your family history research. I don’t know who said it first, the quote has
been credited to Mark Twain, or Benjamin Franklin and a host of other men, but
it is worth remembering (and forgive the paraphrase): A man
who spells his name only one way is obviously not a gentleman.
In the case of Brubaker, I was recently
introduced to an alternate spelling of “Brubacher” in the 1850s. I guess the family is slowly working itself
towards the title of Gentleman.
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