For much of American history, name changes did not require court action. A person could simply start using a new name–as long as they weren’t going to engage in any fraudulent activity. Your ancestor in 1880 could simply have chosen to use a new name when he or she moved into a new town. Sometimes immigrants would take a new name when they naturalized. That name may have been based on the name they had in their native language, but there was no law that they had to literally translate. Comprehensively searching your ancestor may help reveal name changes as land records, estate records, other court records, military pension materials and other records may document the name change. Good ol’ Riley was originally named Latte when he came […]
A seasoned professional genealogist does not guarantee to find anything. All any researcher can do, professional or not, is methodically search the records that are extant and report what they find. Without having searched the records, no one can guarantee what will be found. If someone tells you that they are 100% certain they can answer your question, consider another researcher.
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