Saturday Night Fun, Sunday morning

It'd be easier to search for my family
If everyone stayed in one place
My patience is what sustains me
And what is my saving grace.

It'd be easier to search for my family
If everyone kept the same name
But, alas, names keep evolving,
Whatever the reason, be it ignorance or shame.

The O in O'Neil, though ancient and proud
Was dropped when the British oppressed
The O'Neils and their kind from the Emerald Isle
The famine got rid of the rest.

Though Haines were abundant in colonial days,
And common in Loyalist U.C.
No fewer than four separate families
Came after the war, to be free.

My great-grandfather, a man born John Haines,
Sent me on a wild-goose chase
Looking everywhere for Hines' in Ontario
'Cause that's the name on his final resting place.


The Donnes of Great Britain, changed an "N" for and "A"
When they came to Plymouth Colony
The Doans, who were Quakers, dropped the "E"
And they're all in my family.

The Shewels became Shuels after immigrating
From Ireland, soon after arrival
To escape the starvation and apathy at home
And ensure their family's survival.

In 1749, to the city of Brotherly Love
The Steinseffers, from Germany came,
Changed their names in time to assimilate,
To the Stonecypher and Stonecipher names.

The French-Canadians were no exception,
The Desbiens all descend from Denis de Bien,
The Tremblays from Pierre du Tremble,
Not to mention mis-spelling now and then.

These are a few names, off the top of my head
That in my genealogy exist.
There are a lot more, to confuse me further,
Too many to try and list.