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Classification: Query
Message Board URL:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/gFI.2ACEB/243.292.1.1.4.1.2.1.1.1.2
Message Board Post:
R. F....
There are certainly Coursey and DeCoursey families living contemporaneously with Causeys
in Maryland in the late 1600s and early 1700s. Even in northeastern North Carolina in the
1700s.
It is not the way the person spelled his name, but the way that the recording clerk
'heard' the name that determined how it was spelled in court, census or tax
records.
The courthouse recording clerks made use of phonetic spelling in their day and as a result
we have seen Coursey, Cossey, Cassey, Carsey, Cawsey and Causey all applied to the same
individual in various courthouse and census filings. But, he signed his name as
'Causey' on conveyances and marriage licenses.
So, this problem can be addressed and one can determine what the real surname was; we can
do that by looking at conveyances of property and marriage licenses. These usually
required signatures of execution. Those signatures tell the true story of the
surname's spelling. But, one must not rely upon a transcribed record. Many surnames
are erroneously spelled by transcribers. They spell the name to match what they have
read, or heard elsewhere. So....be sure and see the orignial signature if possible.
Regards...