<<<What American Jewish genealogist has not heard the story of the poor-soul Jewish immigrant who wanted to change his name at Ellis Island and became so flustered when the immigrant officer asked his name, he blurted out in Yiddish "Shayn fergessen" (I already forgot). The immigrant officer dutifully recorded for eternity his new name, Sean Ferguson. Is the story true, or is it the creation of some Borsht Belt comedian?

The answer is, there really was a Sean Ferguson...almost. The story is true...almost. AVOTAYNU, the journal of Jewish genealogy, tracked down what appears to be the origin of the famous story to a Syracuse, New York, attorney name Tracy Ferguson, the grandson of the "real" Sean Ferguson, Samuel Forgotston.

According to Tracy, his grandfather, Samuel Forgotston, immigrated to the United States in the 1860s. He settled in upper New York State and either he, or one of his brothers, Americanized his name to Ferguson for some reason that has been lost in the history of the family.

In the mid-1930s, shortly after Tracy graduated from Harvard Law School, he became active in raising funds for a major Jewish social help organization by going around the country making speeches to various groups. His associates pointed out that his peculiarly non-Jewish name, Ferguson, might be a detriment to his fund raising ability. So Tracy turned disadvantage to advantage by inventing a story.

He told his audience that his unusual name was derived in an unusual way. His grandfather, Samuel Forgotston, when he arrive at Ellis Island, in a moment of panic, blurted out to the immigration officer, "Shayn fergessen" to the questions, "What is your name?" The story brought gales of laughter from the audience, so Tracy continued to use it as a warmup introduction to his appeal for funds.

Tracy surmises that the story so caught the fancy of the public that it was passed from person to person until it became part of Jewish-American folklore.
According to The New York Times of December 22, 1997:

Tracy H. Ferguson, a Syracuse lawyer who specialized in labor law, died on Dec. 3, [1997] at the age of 87.>>>

from http://ajhistory.blogspot.com/2006/0...-ferguson.html