I found this site almost by accident but am intrigued to know more about my "extended" family. I know little of my geneaology and unfortunately all of my family has passed on.

What little I do know is I am Dan (originally Dana after my grandfather)Farrar Mosley. Born in Dallas, Texas, USA in 1960. My father was William Edwin Mosley, born in Dallas 1925, died 1981. My brother was William Scott Mosley born 1962 and died 2003.
My grandfather was Dana Reese Mosley, born in Wood County, Texas, 1890 and died in 1970. He had two sisters and four brothers (all deceased).
My great grandfather was William Stopford Mosley, born around 1855 in the state of Arkansas, USA and died in Texas in 1933. His family originated from the states of Alabama, USA and Georgia, USA.
Prior to that I believe the family originated in England (although I was always under the impression we had some Scot lineage). My mother said my grandfather claimed our name originally was DeMausley (french/Norman?)

Would love to hear from anyone on either side of the pond.

My Great-Grandmother was named Ruth Arminta Mosley/Mosely and she resided in Logan County Arkansas. She had a sister named Martha, also of Logan County. Both ladies were married to cousins. My grandmother married William Allen Lee and her sister married Reason Levi Lee. I have reason to believe they could be of Melungeon descent. Unfortunately, I have reached a dead-end in my research. Any and all information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

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morgain faye mcgaughey

Welcome to you both.

We're trying hard to find where the Mosley lines emigrated to the US, so far without any definate success. Please keep looking in because there may well be other visitors who have found the links.

If you have any indicators which might help, please post them here, and let's see if we can make a determined effort to help all our American cousins.

Best wishes
Martin

Having just now found one of my 'Moseley's', I was surprised to see that he was a Mosley after all. I know his father was a Mosley but am intrigued to know why one son in adult life could be a Moseley and his brother a Mosley. Did they just change on a whim? Anyway it looks as if I am a MOSLEY after all !
Good luck to everyone searching.
Anne

The variety of spellings is almost beyond our imagination. Only yesterday I found a varient I had never seen previously: Moisley.

We need to remember that for many of our ancestors, even as late as the early 19th century, literacy was limited to the few, not the many. Family records were maintained primarily by the local parish priest. He would have been literate, but would have written what he heard said. So when our ancestors had a strong local accent that would influence the way the name was written, resulting in variations between or even within generations. We need to imagine how our family names would have sounded, and therefore how they may have been written.

Don't be surprised when your ancestors are found to have spelling variations in their names.

Thank you Martin for your interesting reply.
My ancestor was an adult in around 1860. (You have his photograph on this website) He was a business man and I have examples of his most beautiful handwriting in the Family Bible and other examples also. Considering he worked in the cutlery industry in Sheffield, he appeared to also be artistic and was an excellent water colour painter. As you can see he was not illiterate so I don't know why he should have changed his name from Moseley to Mosley 'mid generation'.
Anne

Hi Anne,

There could be any number of explanations.

The records you have could have been created by others from verbal information given by your ancestor; Equally there may be many personal reasons why an individual or a family decide to change their name or the spelling. I have another family on this site who effectively disowned their father, and one way of marking this appears to have been a change in spelling the family name.

Despite all the facts we are able to unearth in our research, there will always remain mysteries left for us by our forebears. I guess that is what makes this hobby so addictive.

Hi Martin
They were all very fair comments, thank you.
I see that I need to really confirm without doubt whose the handwriting was if I can.
Yes, these mysteries keep us guessing, and 'hooked' - ( but I never give up!)
Anne