As most of you may recall, my ancestors spent some time in Illinois ca 1820-1847, in the later years in the vicinity of Adams County. They moved westward with the Mormons in 1847-49, and in 1850 helped found the town of Tooele, Utah, just southwest of Salt Lake City.

The family pronounced the name 'GAWL-yer", and it is still pronounced that way in Tooele and there-abouts. My grandfather, when he moved to Salt Lake, insisted on pronouncing the name GAWL-uh-her, and family oral tradition holds that the 'original' pronunciation of the surme has always been that way.

I just came from a visit to Tooele, where I confirmed that this was so. My great-grandfather, John David Gollaher, was the city manager for many years, and I ran into a fellow who knew him. He informed me that John always introduced himself as GAWL-uh-her, and NOT GAWL-yer. "But folks here just wouldn't call him that," he explained, "they insisted on saying the name GAWL-yer. They did the same thing to the Drubays, so instead of pronouncing it Drew-BAY, they would call them the 'DREW-bees."

It seems clear that my ancestor (William Culbertson Gollaher) picked up the pronunciation during their tenure in Illinois. It also seems clear that other family members, and more distant kin, also went by that pronunciation.

Recently I had an e-mail exchange with a fellow who was researching his GOLLIER /GALLIER /GOLLIAR surname, which seems to trace back into England before it goes back into Ireland. Since a number of early English converts to the Church of Jesus Christ ended up in Nauvoo and later Utah, it is concievable that 'GAWL-yer' may be a uniquely British pronunciation of the surname, just as GAL-ak-er (Gallacher) is in Scotland.

At any rate, I am trying to pin down the relationship of my ancestor to the 'Gawlyers' --- whether they spelled it GOLLIHER, GALLIHER, Gollaher or whatever, in Illinois.

William had a brother whose name was James, and who is known to have spelled his name GOLLIHER and GALLIHER. He was also a member of the Church of Jesus Christ, but did not go west with William and his family.

He and William went to Caldwell County, Missouri together, but were driven back into Illinois by anti-Mormon mobs. William eventually settled in Burton, Adams County, but there is no record of what happened to James.

An 1842 Nauvoo tax list shows a charles Gollaher, but since William did not have a son or brother named Charles (he DID have a grandfather by that name), this may be a son of James. I have also seen marriage records of a James in Adams County, and suspected this may be one of James' sons.

I am looking for ideas and more info if anybody has it. Thanks!