I hear ya ... that's why I didn't go into my BOOTH lineage in the first post :-) My husband's family gave their kids middle names such as Washington and Lafayette, for those same reasons. Sure screws one up while trying to figure out why those names...LOL Rumor has it we're related to John Wilkes, but no proof as of yet. Good luck with all your searching. Norma Gary Smith wrote: >Norma, > Peter's mother was a HARTMAN. I've seen no connection anywhere in my >family with the name 'BOOTH', or it would have leapt out at me, as the name >does have a sensational 1860s connection. It is intriguing... > Use of that surname for a given name could be as simple as an example >later when Peter's son Ira named my father 'Wellman' as a show of respect to >an army officer he had known and admired. > Cheers, > Gary > > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Norma Thornton" <nonie@pacbell.net> >To: <mocedar@rootsweb.com> >Sent: Monday, August 13, 2007 9:34 AM >Subject: Re: [MOCEDAR] Cedar Springs (Balm) - and BOOTH question > > > > >>Gary, what ties to do you have to the BOOTH surname, if any? Since it >>was common practice to give their child the mother's surname as a middle >>name, is, that what happened >>with your g'fa? >> >>Norma Thornton >>CA >> >>