My friends - I want to drop by today and give you the solution, and some analysis, on the latest Skills Puzzler, which was based upon name evaluation. Only 4 brave folks tried this one, although two of our subscribers indicated that they did not believe that there was enough information in the narrative on which to base a good plan of action. The information was there, but hard to "see". Our question involved the name "Joel Hawes Curd". He was a son of Edmund Curd and his second wife, Mary (Polly)Grizzard. In the narrative of the Puzzler, I noted that Edmund's parentage has never been determined, and that, quite naturally, those who are researching this group have analyzed the possible derivation for each of the names given to the children by his second wife, in search of clues about possible grandparents, or other close relatives. In the case of Joel Hawes Curd, it was known that he had an uncle, Joel Grizzard, which, in the view of an early group of researchers, explained the first name derivation of Joel Hawes Curd. The "Hawes" in the view of this earlier group of researchers, had to be an indication of a close relationship to the "other" group of Curds in Calloway and Marshall counties, in which the name Hawes appears as a middle name in two cases. Our task was to make a determination about whether this was a sound hypothesis on which to proceed. And if not, why not? In the Puzzler narrative, I pointed out that Edmund Curd and his sons were very much involved in the civic and religious element of society in the JP and especially in Calloway County. Edmund and Mary's eldest son, William Hardy Curd, was the first recording secretary of the First Christian Church in Murray, when it was established. When I undertook my own analysis of the names of the children of Edmund Curd and his second wife, I tried to avoid any preconceived notions about why the children were named as they were. However, when I examined the names, I did so with an eye to the environment in which Edmund and Mary were living, as well as keeping in mind that men around them who were prominent in the are of the JP, in which Edmund lived, might have had an influence on the naming of children. Beyond that, I kept in mind that the family was a very religious one and that had to be factored in as well. With all of that in mind, and doing some research into the religious leaders of Edmund's life, it did not take long to come upon the Reverend Joel Hawes, from the northeastern part of the country, who was a prominent minister in what would become the Church of Christ denomination. We can still find some of his teachings and sermons today and he was well known in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Having found that, I had to factor it in, and, in so doing, I came to the conclusion that the hypothesis that Joel Hawes Curd was named for his uncle, Joel Grizzard, and that the Hawes indicated a close relationship to the other group of Curd in the region, was far weaker in view of the knowledge that a well known minister with that name, and in the right religious denomination, may well have been the influence that caused Edmund and Mary to name a child "Joel Hawes". Does it prove anything? No, and it *is* possible that Edmund and Mary named their son in honor of her brother, but it would have seemed more likely that he would have been named Joel Grizzard Curd, rather than Joel Hawes. If we can place ourselves into the times in which our ancestors lived, and know as much as we can about their social, intellectual and economic standing, it gives us a much better foundation on which to gauge the hypotheses that may come along in our research. -B ============================================================