QUAKER-ROOTS-L Archives

Archiver > QUAKER-ROOTS > 1998-03 > 0888852536


From: JYoung6180 <>
Subject: Re: BIRDSALL/BEDSAUL AND LDS MIX-UP
Date: Mon, 2 Mar 1998 10:28:56 EST


In a message dated 98-03-02 06:10:40 EST, you write:

> I am a novice at researching Quaker information, but I have my doubts about
> the BEDSAUL name turning into BIRDSALL, because I have seen the Coat of
> Arms for BEDSAUL and a write-up on the name going back to the 1200's in
> Germany.

As with any genealogical research you must take one step at a time and work
your way back to each preceeding generation that you can prove. Don't rule
anything out. Just because there is a surname Bedsaul that you are finding in
Germany doesn't mean that YOUR Bedsauls were German or are connected to the
ones you found. I am not even sure that Bedsaul IS a German surname--all
German surnames must mean something in the language they originated in--just
like Carpenter (Zimmerman) and King (Knig). Some refer to trades and
professions and others to physical characteristics and places of origin--the
Wingers came from Wingen for example. I have no idea what Bedsaul could refer
to in German unless the spelling has changed over the years. The same goes
for a Coat of Arms--many of those are not authentic--where did you see this
Coat of Arms? And to whom was it granted? Surnames themselves do NOT get
Coats of Arms granted to them--INDIVIDUALS do. So unless you can directly
prove a connection to the Bedsaul who actually received the Coat of Arms many
years ago--then it is truly NOT YOUR Coat of Arms.

So what it all boils down to is lots of hard work and individual research.
Even in this computer age not every answer is so simple as finding a surname
and assuming it relates to YOUR ancestors. There are English Coxes, Swedish
Coxes, German Coxes--and they do NOT share a common ancestry. That has to be
determined by proving each generation as you work your own way back.

Hope this helps to put things in perspective for you. I know it is NOT what
you would LIKE to hear. Sorry! Wish the answers were easier to come by.

Joan Myers Young

This thread: