I find the last T in our surname the most important letter of all. It is because of this letter that we distinguish ourselves from all the people with the more common surname of Versteeg or Ver Steeg.  I myself pronounce this last T very clear when I have to introduce myself to someone. Often this is followed by the question how to spell  this name. "With a T at the end? " or "With G - H - T at the end? "  

Of course we insist on the correct writing of our name. In former days our ancestors were apparently not bothered at all when the name was written down incorrectly. Let's take a look at some official deeds of Johannes Versteegt, born June 18, 1783 in Bonrepas. The record shows his father's name was Cornelis Versteeg. Without the last T. Below we see the registering of Johannes' christening on June 22, 1783.

Many years later Johannes and his intended wife Anna de Graaf have the banns published in Vlist-Bonrepas on November 16, 1810, for their intended marriage (see below).  It is obvious there is something extra written at the end of the name Versteeg. But what is it. Is it a H or a T? We consider it to be a genuine T, because of the line used across this last letter. If it was supposed to be an H this cross-line should not appear over here. So, the official surname of Johannes is Versteegt in this document.

 Johannes and Anna married on December 2, 1810. Years went by. When Johannes died on November 3, 1861 the person registering his death apparently was not clear on what Johannes last name was. The record below shows us the name as Johannes VerSteeg. The T has gone.

 There is also another thing that caught my eye. The second part of the surname is written with an capital S. Is this the proof that all the American family members are right by writing their names as Ver Steegt?

We did extensive research to answer this question. From the picture below we learn that in 1740 the name of Ariaantje Jans VerSteeg was also written down with a capital S in the middle (see second arrow). The first arrow shows us a common word "aangeSchreeven" also with a capital S in the middle. We therefore can assume it was a habit to use occasionally a capital letter in the middle of a word, without the intention to denote it should be 2 separate words. I think this habit is the origin of the different spellings of the Versteegt/VerSteegt/Ver Steegt name.