I have just joined the Cason mailing list. I run an international Causton one-name study
as a hobby. In Essex, Suffolk and Essex in England strong local accents resulted in
Causton being recorded as everything from Cason, Caston, Causon, Coston, Coyston and
Cowston to name but a few of the many variations. Of course Cason may well be a surname
in its own right as a variant of Casson, meaning the son of Cass. Casson is found in
northern England as well as Australia and America. The ancestors of current day Casons in
USA could have been Cassons or Caustons. Obviously the newly arrived Casons/Caustons
brought their accents with them! What can happen is that if Causton is over generations
of semi literate people pronounced and spelt as Cason it becomes their surname (called
mutation). The clue is the presence of the Castons or Causton spelling as a variation of
Cason. One lesson is that when researching it is wise to record a wide range of spellings
as given above.
When American Cason researchers get back to the date of immigration from England there is
a fair chance that I will be able to help in finding where in England they came from. In
the meantime there is something of interest to Cason researchers on my web site at
http://www.btinternet.com/~john.causton including articles in the newsletters and other
Cason researchers in the researcher list.
best wishes
John Causton, Colchester, England