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From: "Joan M. Wieser" <>
Subject: [SCANLON] Spelling of Scanlon
Date: Sun, 20 May 2007 13:45:18 -0500


John,

My husband has a Morris Scanlon in his line born about 1800 somewhere in
County Cork. In the 30 years I've been working in this field I've
learned to keep a list of the various spellings that I find for surnames
I'm looking for. To date I believe I have eight for Scanlon. These
days I have a habit of taking any new surname, deleting the vowels and
go from there. You'd be surprised what you'll find. Remember you may
be dealing with folks who cannot read and write. If the census taker or
government official asks for a name and they discover that these folks
can't read and write, then anything can be written down. How could your
ancestors possibly correct it? Usually doesn't happen until the next
literate generation comes along. I've found many, many errors in
"official" records. We are only human after all. Imagine coming off
the ship and facing an "official" on the dock recording everyone's
name. This "official" is of German descent and has been in the U.S. say
5 years. He still has a fairly heavy accent and he's most likely living
in an area of the city inhabited by Germans and speaking German. Down
come the Scanlon family and the "official" asks for the surname. Mr.
Scanlon, of course, can understand the question but he's speaking with a
heavy accent as well. And just how good is that "official" with
listening and figuring out what Mr. Scanlon is saying when he's faced
with hundreds of folks whose names he must record? My point being,
think outside the box. It comes in helpful if you look at folks with
all their possible human faults.

Also you say you believe what you read. Never, never, NEVER discount
oral family history. In every story that I've been told there has
always been some grain of truth. The trick is to take the story and
check each item given as fact. Good luck with your Scanlons, they are
an interesting lot!

Joan M. Wieser, Certified Genealogist

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