===================================================================== "FINDING MAIDEN OR MARRIED NAMES," by Juliana Smith ===================================================================== I was browsing through the new "French-Canadian Sources" book from Ancestry the other day and I stumbled on an interesting fact. "Women in French society do not lose their maiden names. They are called by their married names socially, but in all official civil and church records they are known by their maiden name. The identity of their spouse may be mentioned, but not necessarily. This usually carries over to their tombstones" (p. 6). I suddenly wished I had more French ancestors. Seriously though, locating our female relatives can be a challenge. We frequently run into situations where we need to take extra steps to find a maiden name, or in some cases, a married name. Typically it is the former, since we usually go backward in time, but occasionally we'll have the maiden name but we'll be unable to locate the married name. Both of these situations will call for some serious digging, and the further back in time the problem dates, the more difficult it can be to locate this information. Today, in light of this difficulty, I thought we'd take a look at some ways I've been able to locate these elusive surnames. A few of these methods contain a few twists and turns. Naturally there will be other options, but to cover them all would make this more of an e- book than an e-zine. Nonetheless, I hope this gives you some ideas. THE CASE OF ELIZA JANE DYER We found Eliza Jane's maiden name in "Bishop Loughlin's Dispensations, Diocese of Brooklyn, 1859-1866, Volume I," compiled by Joseph M. Silinonte. In a dispensation given to her son Edwin Durain and his bride Margaret Dooner, his parents are listed as "Jas, Eliza Neson." For some time we searched high and low for Nesons to no avail, but some further research on Edwin's half sister Suzanne Dyer turned up her marriage certificate. This document gave her mother's maiden name as Nelson. Furthermore, Suzanne named her first son Nelson. The search for Eliza Jane Neson ended there, but the search for Eliza Jane Nelson rages on. Several things came into play here. First we gathered all the information we could find on her children--both direct ancestors and collateral. Even though we might have been tempted to shelve research on Suzanne because she was only a half sister, it turned out that only by seeking out her records were we able to finally locate Eliza's maiden name. Another thing to note is that sometimes maiden names turn up as the given names of children and grandchildren. Marriage records can be particularly valuable because of the information they contain regarding parentage. While information contained in them may vary from place to place and year to year, they are worth seeking out for all of the children of the ancestor in question. If you don't have an exact marriage date you may be able to estimate the date using other events, such as the birth of the first child, appearances in a census with parents and/or husband, (checking all state and federal enumerations where available) and other records. Arranged chronologically, these records can help pin down an approximate date, and then you can look to see what indexes, if any, are available. In the above case, there wasn't an index so we had to browse through several rolls of microfilm to locate the marriage, but it was well worth the effort! THE KELLY FAMILY In our search for the family of my 3rd great-grandmother Catherine Kelly Tobin, although we had her maiden name, we only had the name of one of her sisters and a brother. In Elizabeth Kelly's probate, we learned the married name of the sisters and we also learned of their very existence, thus gaining a wonderful picture of the family structure. Contained in the probate was the following paragraph: "Your petitioner further shows that the only heirs and next of kin of said deceased are, James Kelly, a brother of said deceased residing at 155 Huntington Street, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Ann Eliza Tobin residing at Mount St. Vincent, N.Y. and Emma Chouaniere residing at 155 Huntington Street. Brooklyn, N.Y., children of Catherine Tobin, a deceased sister of the testatrix; Kate Doherty, only child of Mary A. Doherty, a deceased sister of the testatrix, residing at 777 Lexington Avenue, City of New York; Eugene C. Pechin, your petitioner, Eugenia E. Pechin and Marie L. Pechin, children of Jane Pechin, a deceased sister of the testatrix, all of whom reside at 82 East 83rd Street, City of New York; all of which are of full age: That deceased left neither father, mother, sister or brother, nor any children of a deceased brother or sister her surviving other that here above set forth. That said deceased was unmarried in her lifetime." With this probate we not only learned of the existence of three sisters, we learned their married names, their children's names and addresses, and that all of the siblings save James predeceased Elizabeth, who died in 1883. Death certificates on these siblings eventually told us that their parents were James and Bridget Kelly. Our quest now is to find Bridget's maiden name. Besides death certificates, other death-related records can also contain maiden or married names. Surviving family members are often listed with married and/or maiden names in obituaries. Cemetery records should also be referenced. In-laws can often be found in the same or in neighboring graves. ANN DWYER, WIRE, TOIRE, WARE, WYRE The maiden name of one ancestress is listed as Dwyer--a very common Irish name. Must be ours, right? When we found her name listed on her children's baptismal records as Wire, Ware, Dwyer, Wire, Toire, and Weir, the spelling variations were not too alarming since they all sounded like Dwyer, so we clung to that name. On a recent trip to Ireland though, my parents were able to look at Catherine's baptismal record in the parish registry where her name is listed as Wyre. This is a clear reminder that we need to keep an open mind and check as many records as possible. Also, remember that not all of our ancestors had a formal education and some may not have even known how to write or spell their names. It may have been up to whoever was creating the record to interpret the name phonetically as it was told to them. Picturing my Ann Wyre, fresh from Ireland with her Irish brogue, the multiple spellings are understandable. FINAL THOUGHTS Published family histories and online family trees can also hold clues, but remember to verify everything yourself. While there are some great genealogies both in print and online, there are also some shoddy ones. The only way to tell the difference is to verify each piece of information. Home sources can also contain clues as to our female ancestors' surnames. Old photographs and correspondence can contain a goldmine of information. Clues such as witnesses and sponsors, and other tidbits found in our records should be analyzed thoroughly. For this reason, it's important to go after original records and to not rely on indexes, abstracts, and extracts. Information that may seem trivial to the compiler may be the key to unlocking your family history. Make not of neighbors, as they may also turn out to be family, and names that reappear time after time should definitely warrant a closer look. While the maiden and married names of our female relatives may not always be immediately evident, with a little digging they can come to the surface. ____________________________________________________________________ Copyright 1998-2003, MyFamily.com, Inc. and its subsidiaries. Reprinted by permission from the "Ancestry Daily News"