This is very sound advice. -----Original Message----- From: hbrandon [mailto:hbrandon@gateway.net] Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2000 11:19 AM To: MARKHAM-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [MARKHAM] Abbreviations of Given Names Dear Mr. Featherstone, "Jno." is and was an abbreviation for "Johnathon", just as "Wm." stood for "William" and so on. It is very common in original records and is used almost interchangeably with "John". I would accept it as a given, if I were you. As things modernized, your ancestors may have called a child simply "John" in honor or memory of a "Johnathon" since there was little or no difference, OR the child's name may have been "Johnathon" but the nickname "John" was used. I have a first cousin, Robert Harrison Marcum, III who went through most of his life thinking his name was just Bob(by) Marcum. Also, it's good to remember that in those days Biblical names, particularly those of the desciples, were used by almost everyone, and this can lead to wrong assumptions about name patterns. In other words, name patterns can be very valuable if the name is Hezekiah or Obediah, but less so in the case of James, John, and Thomas. A better indicator is the use of the mother's maiden name as the child's name or middle name, and that can give a clue to the mother's identity sometimes. Again, it shouldn't be accepted until proven, since people did name children after friends as well as realtives, or even made up new names altogether. In the mid-1800s, there was a rash of naming children after presidents and war and other heroes, so that we had Henry Clay Marcum and Andrew Jackson Marcum (both sons of James S.) for example. There was a post not long ago defending computer research and referring to those of us who work primarily from original records as "snobs", but, while there are certainly advantages to computer research, particularly in the contacts to be made, it is still essential to read the original records. Differences in handwriting (or the lack of it) can identify or rule out an individual as being a particular person. Also, aside from the accuracy quotient, there is a "feel" one gets from going over the old documents about other people's families while searching for one's own which carries over and is of enormous benefit. It is easier to learn the vocabulary of the times and to see the pattern of how a particular census taker or tax agent spelled or abbreviated things, and of what the customs were at the time. For example, a friend of mine was wasting valuable time looking for non-existent relatives of her "Relict" family because she had seen a reference to a known ancestor as "Jane Jones Relict of John Jones". If she had spent some time pouring over documents in the archives for a while, she would soon have learned that "Relict" meant "Widow", and have saved herself a lot of trouble. I'm not saying that computer research can't be highly valuable, but people should be very careful about it and check everything against original documents before assuming it is correct. There's a LOT of conclusion jumping on the net, and a lot of it is due to insufficient data. For example, there's a reference to William M. Marcum/Markham, a son of James S. Marcum of Lee Co. Va and Owsley Co. Ky on one of the sites as having married and had children, but if whoever originally assumed that fact had done a thorough check of ALL the existing records of Lee County, Virginia instead of relying on the net, the person would have found that THIS William M. Marcum/Markham died in infancy in August of 1857 and therefore couldn't possibly have been the same William of the family group given. So please, proceed with caution, and go to the courthouses and libraries to check out the information you think might be valuable, and to get your basic information such as birth, death and marriage records, tax rolls, census records, processioner and other court records. Also, there are several veteran researchers on this list who would be happy to help you learn the basics and who may be able to tie you into a proven line. Where are you in your research on your Marcum/Markham line ? Maybe I can help? I've been at this for about thirty-five years, and have accumulated a lot of raw data from courthouses and archives that I hope to start posting after the first of the year on the Virginia Markham/Marcums of Jamestown and later of the (possibly related?)Bedford/Botetourt group, some of which moved to Lee Co, Va. and then over Cumberland Gap into Ky. Good hunting ! Karen Marcum Brandon -----Original Message----- From: Richard Featherstone <rfeatherstone@paradise.net.nz> To: MARKHAM-L@rootsweb.com <MARKHAM-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Tuesday, November 28, 2000 11:55 PM Subject: [MARKHAM] Abbreviations of Given Names >Does anyone know what "Jno" stands for? > >One of my other lists thinks it stands for "Jonathan" but if my ancestors >were following a pattern it should be "John". > >Regards > > >==== MARKHAM Mailing List ==== >New Subscribers: >Please post your Markham/Marcum family History >to our list. We are anxious to hear from you. > > ==== MARKHAM Mailing List ==== Visit Rootsweb's Resource page for MARKHAM http://resources.rootsweb.com/surnames/m/a/MARKHAM/