Talk:DeWalt, Missouri City, Texas

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Requested move (de-capitalize the W in DeWalt)

Starting a discussion here regarding the March 17, 2009 request to move this article from DeWalt, Missouri City, Texas to Dewalt, Missouri City, Texas (de-capitalize the W). Both usages appear online; I can't readily tell which is more common, but it looks like many of the ghits using Dewalt are generic, computer-generated pages which wouldn't necessarily be apt to display a middle letter in upper case (e.g. [1], [2], [3]) while most of the DeWalt spellings seem to come from more trustworthy sources (e.g. [4], [5], [6]). It may be that DeWalt is an older name which is now giving way to Dewalt; I'm not local, so I can't readily tell. I'd like to see more definitive evidence before supporting a move. Baileypalblue (talk) 04:12, 17 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I'm the person requesting the change (sorry about not following procedures), and have lived about one mile from the former site (now fully absorbed into Missouri City) for 30+ years. It's always been spelled with small W on highway signs, etc. I am a friend of a descendant of the family; his middle name is Dewalt spelled with small W. But for authority see the definitive Handbook of Texas [7] where we read:

"DEWALT, TEXAS. Dewalt is at the intersection of State Highway 6 and Farm Road 1092, fourteen miles east of Richmond in eastern Fort Bend County. In the 1850s the site was the plantation headquarters of Thomas Waters Dewalt..."

Irv (talk) 05:39, 17 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your response. Do you know why some sources use the capitalized W? The link you've provided is useful, though not definitive evidence that Dewalt is the most common name; if highway signs and other govt sources use the small w, that's also good evidence. Any other information you have that could clear up the ambiguity would be useful. Baileypalblue (talk) 07:34, 17 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I suppose sometimes it is styled with the capitalized W on the assumption it was a "Latin" name starting with "De" just as one might style similar names starting with "La" or "Le" or "El". And way back in the family history of founder Thomas Walters Dewalt it indeed may have styled that way but Anglicized when the forefathers arrived on USA shores, perhaps from France.

Several other verifications are the USGS Topo map found at various places on the Internet (e.g.,[8]); the language imprinted on the official State of Texas historical marker on Dewalt Cemetery[9] (disregard the similar error in the title of the cited document); and a 1902 publication (A gazetteer of Texas) of the Government Printing Office[10]. None of these truly confirm what's the most common name these days, but it's largely moot because the never-incorporated town of Dewalt no longer exists (e.g., as a CDP or a USPS legal address) and one seldom sees the name in print. Irv (talk) 15:08, 17 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Most likely simply a confusion with the power tool company, DeWalt, which does have a capital W. 199.125.109.126 (talk) 20:17, 17 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

At the risk of seeming unnecessarily tendentious, I should note that the cemetery historical marker cited uses "DEWALT" and "DeWALT", and the website displaying it uses "DeWalt" as well as "Dewalt" :). Anyway, I'm inclined to accept that "Dewalt" is the primary spelling, barring new objections from other editors. Baileypalblue (talk) 01:59, 18 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Moved from WP:RM. 199.125.109.126 (talk) 20:22, 17 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

One external source uses Dewalt but the other uses DeWalt. — AjaxSmack 02:04, 17 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The original requestor checking in again ... with a dilemma. A historian with the Fort Bend County Historical Commission has taken oral histories from some of the descendants of the Dewalt/DeWalt family, and she tells me that they insist the family name was spelled with a Capital W (notwithstanding early 20th Century contemporary uses otherwise). As a result, the DeWalt Heritage Center[11] (of which I'm a member of the Steering Committee) elected to use the Capital W in its name. (This is AjaxSmack's second cite above, and also is mentioned in the main article.)

Of course, this Wikipedia article is about the town name rather than the family name. However, the town name will fade from memory inasmuch as it no longer exists. But the family name will persist in the name of the Heritage Center (located in nearby Kitty Hollow county park[12]). Thus the Most Common Name will become DeWalt.

So let's please put my suggested change on hold for a few days while I continue my research, the results of which will be posted on this page. Thanks. Irv (talk) 18:59, 18 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]