Any ideas for the change from GRESS family name to KRESS?

Question:

Any ideas for the change from GRESS family name to KRESS?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Wendy's right, spelling errors in records is the bain of all genealogists. Remember that our ancestors were often not literate. They got emigration visas issued by someone in their home region and that would be where the cycle started. If the person writing the visa couldn't spell well and if your ancestors couldn't read or write, then whatever they put on that piece of paper was as official as it gets, regardless of its accuracy. And even if the official spelled it correctly, that doesn't mean the next person in the cycle could read it properly.

After the visa was issued, your ancestor travelled to a port city and got another visa. It was supposed to be copied off of the one issued back in your ancestor's home region, but if your ancestor were Russian and they were travelling from Bremen, then a German official would be copying the info and could easily "Germanize" the name by changing a letter or two. They really didn't care, the records were for their own purposes, they never realized we'd come along 100 years later and scrutinize their work.

The last visa issued in the port town would be used to fill out the passenger manifest. Again...room for spelling errors and bad handwriting to goof things up. The ship's manifest was used to fill out ID cards that were handed out before our ancestors got to Castle Clinton, Philadelphia, Boston or Ellis Island. But they were filled out by sailors on the ship. Imagine the room for errors there!

The clerks at the Immigration station would do their best to read what was on the cards, but if they couldn't read it, they did their best to approximate it. Sometimes people felt stuck with the spelling errors, but often they would figure out the error...usually when other family members came over or when their kids went to school and learned to read and write...or when they went to church and the priest (who was probably from their own country and quite literate) would correct the spelling errors and help them get their paperwork straight.

What it really comes down to is that we may never know which spelling was correct and if one was adulterated or simply a spelling error that needed help. Don't assume the name ever changed...just assume the spelling got corrected. I'm sure most of us on here have run across the problem more than once. You handle it by researching both spellings simultaneously and seeing where it leads you. The facts are what they are...you just need to figure out what they are.