The first Guptills who landed in America were named Gubtail. By 1830 (US Census) and 1851 (Grand Manan Island, Canada, census), some branches had been spelling it as “Guptill”. In 1852 Hilliard M. Sowle, Town Clerk of Gouldsboro, ME, changed the spelling of the name from “Gubtail” to “Guptill” in the town records and it was accepted as the family spelling.
Some branches retained the name “Gubtail”, and one Edward Gubtail died in Louisiana in August 1974. There are modern branches that use the form “Guptil”, “Gubtil”, “Guptail”, “Guptell”, “Gupthill” etc. However, the majority has adopted “Guptill”.
When looking up private family trees, it causes confusion when Gubtails from the pre-1830 days have been renamed as Guptill.
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One of The Grand Manan clan