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name change on arrival to America?

name change on arrival to America?

Posted: 4 Jun 2014 4:24AM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Fredlund
If I have a relative whose name (according to family) was changed when he arrived to America, how would I find record of this?

Frans Anderson in Sweden --> Frank Fredlund in America
DOB: 10-4-1856 in Sweden
Arrival to Michigan in America via Quebec in May 1887.

Re: name change on arrival to America?

Posted: 6 Jun 2014 12:48AM GMT
Classification: Query
He MAY have filed some document with the court in the county in which he settled, or he MAY just have simply started using another name, without any court involved. I would find as many documents and sources (under both names) as possible, then plot them all on a timeline to see if you can ascertain when and where he may have switched. If there are newspapers online for that geographic area in that time period, a legal notice regarding the name change may have appeared in them.

Re: name change on arrival to America?

Posted: 29 Jun 2014 5:24PM GMT
Classification: Query
You won't. Because it NEVER HAPPENED.

Certainly, lots and lots of immigrants changed their names after living in the US for a while. The most common time is when they naturalized, and this is usually noted on the naturalization papers. They can do it at other times as well. My Polish grandfather changed his surname as an adult (he naturalized on his mother's papers when he was younger).

What never happened is changes when someone arrived. Ellis Island, Castle Garden, etc. Never ever. No matter how many family stories you have. Now, you didn't say your family story was at the point of immigration, maybe it's later. Just that it implied it was at immigration ("on arrival").

Can you tell this is a pet peeve of mine? :-)

My husband's family had a story that his paternal grandfather's family had their name changed at Ellis Island. From Nitowitz to Norwitz. I have no idea why they got that idea or how the myth persisted because it was amazingly easy for me to debunk it. But then the records that are so easy for me to access weren't online 20 years ago and required microfilm searches in the area where they were generated.

My grandfather-in-law was born on the boat in 1899 (that family story is true! I have the proof) and seemed to be considered an American citizen at birth (I can't confirm this because I don't have a birth certificate but everything points to it). He and his family were Nitowitz (with a spelling variant) on the boat, through Ellis Island, and in the census and other records for decades. At some point after he became an adult, my grandfather-in-law became Norwitz. But his parents and siblings all stuck with Nitowitz. Myth busted!

For your relative, I suggest finding as many records as you can for him. Include things that might look like they're not that important, like city directory (and phone book) records. When you come across something, file it under the name it gives (full name...middle initials and etc can be important) and note the source. I can do this with ease in Family Tree Maker but it's a little harder on Ancestry because it doesn't let you specify sources for specific facts. Eventually, you will find the place where his name changed and you can narrow down the timeframe. Note that it's likely he used his new name in a few places before officially changing it, so don't assume the official change is before the first use. Also, he may never have changed it officially. That happens sometimes, especially in the days before computer records.

I also wonder what the story is behind your relative's name change. Frans to Frank follows the pattern of keeping the name but Americanizing or simplifying it. But Fredlund is nothing like Anderson and Anderson is a common American name whereas Fredlund is more unusual. So there may be something else going on. Like a stepfather in the picture, or him living with another family, or him trying to hide his identity (this last one is the least likely but the most interesting).

I'd start with the 1900 Census and work your way up and down from there.

Good luck with it,
Cyndi

Re: name change on arrival to America?

Posted: 16 Jul 2014 3:05AM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: FREDLUND, HEREDLUND
On the chance that this is the same Fredlund family -

Victor Fredlund (b. abt 1860) lived in Mineral Hills and Iron River, MI in the 1910s, 20s and 30s. Ancestry.com tries to tell me his last name on the 1920 census was Heredlund, but it's definitely not an H at the beginning of the name; whoever took the census for this area wrote a lot of capital H's on the page, for Head (of household). It actually looks a bit more like an F from lower on the page (a Frank), but it certainly looks like there are more letters than just 're' between the F and d; I actually think it looks a lot more like Freedland than either Heredlund or Fredlund. All that said, Fredlund seems to translate from Swedish roughly to 'peaceful grove,' so maybe that is just the original name? Old census records are very frustrating.

The 1920 census says Victor immigrated in 1888, and had not naturalized to that point. Good luck! Let me know if you think Victor is related to Frans/Frank...
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