One other comment to the person who initiated this discussion of middle names. Have you looked at the original document to see if the persons really signed his and her name with a middle initial or did they just sign with a "mark"? Looking at what you wrote, in both cases the initial was the same letter as their first names. Could this have been the "mark" they used to sign? I have seen this several times in old deeds, wills, etc. At first I though I had discovered their middle initial, only to find out after a little more research that it was the way they signed documents. Obviously, they could not write but developed this method to distinguish their mark from an ordinary "X". Jean

Jean, In this deed referred to Mary Vaughan signed with her mark. Ref. AZ:5-6 Vaughan to Shurman "In testimoy whereof the said Wm. Vaughan and Mary his wife have hereunto set their hands and seals the dat & year first above written. William his W markj Vaughan Mary [her] M mark Vaughan It clearly indicates she made her mark in this document. Thanks, Mike Hilton> From: jfstms@bellsouth.net> To: lower-delmarva-roots@rootsweb.com> Date: Sun, 4 Jan 2009 14:18:23 -0500> Subject: [LDR] Use of Maiden Name> > One other comment to the person who initiated this discussion of middle > names.> > Have you looked at the original document to see if the persons really signed > his and her name with a middle initial or did they just sign with a "mark"? > Looking at what you wrote, in both cases the initial was the same letter as > their first names. Could this have been the "mark" they used to sign?> > I have seen this several times in old deeds, wills, etc. At first I though > I had discovered their middle initial, only to find out after a little more > research that it was the way they signed documents. Obviously, they could > not write but developed this method to distinguish their mark from an > ordinary "X".> > Jean > > ***************************************> QUESTIONS about POSTING GUIDELINES, SUBSCRIBING or UNSUBSCRIBING?> Visit The Lower DelMarVa Roots Mailing List FAQ:> http://www.tyaskin.com/handley/ldrfaq.htm> -------------------------------> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live™: Keep your life in sync. http://windowslive.com/howitworks?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_t1_allup_howitworks_012009