Hi Frank - I'm not sure about this family line and I certainly don't have information in that regard for you; however, you asked the question as to whether there were any German naming traditions and I wanted to share with you that in fact there are. They go a bit like this: The first born son in the family is named directly after his grandfather, but the child's middle name is retained as his mother's maiden name as are all the sons born in the family. For example: My Great Great Great Great Grandfather was one Samuel Meyer/Meyers b. ~1730. I do not know all of Samuel's children as of yet, but one was named Abrahm or Abraham, who was my Great Great Great Grandfather b. ~1770. Abraham married an Elizabeth (maiden name is presumably Bechtel). Their first born son was named Samuel Bechtel Meyer b. ~1795. Abe and Elizabeth had several other sons (and daughters). The sons that I have knowledge of are: Samuel, Henry/Heinrich, Christian/Christoph, Isaac, Joseph, and John. All of whom carry the middle name of 'Bechtel'. Interestingly enough, daughters do not seem to carry a specific naming convention. I have found this to be the case in a great many German (or more precisely, Prussian) families I have researched. Another very interesting tidbit I will share, which you may already know and as such likely won't affect your research is that the spelling of names was greatly impacted when census' were taken. Unlike today, the majority of folks in early America were illiterate. When the government began taking census records in 1790, the census takers would attempt to visit the homes and would often have to accept at face value what neighbors and friends would say if the man of the house was not at home. In other words, they might write down the name of 'Myers' they way they perceived it is spelled. My own surname of 'Myers' has actually been spelled Myers, Meyers, Moyers, Mijers, and Mayers. I have proof of this through conflicting birth, marriage, and death records in direct comparison to census records. Anyway, don't know if any of that helps you or not, but am always glad to share! Thomas Myers [email protected] "Vision without action is merely a dream; Action without vision just passes the time; Vision with action can change the world." - Joel Barker > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2014 16:24:56 -0700 > Subject: [Myers] Myers :Elizabeth; John; ; Samuel; Jane. > > Hi everyone. > > My particular problem is that I cannot find the parents of the four > individuals in the subject line. > > Elizabeth b.1793, (married Jeremiah Van Waggoner), The Van Waggoner were > original settlers in Delaware County New York and there has been > considerable research which has taken place of this particular family. If > you were one of those researchers, please go into your records to see if you > can find any information. > I believe that They moved to Canada however it is believed they were both > from Delaware County. > > John b. Born September 4 1797. That is on his tombstone, but please remember > that he did not carve his tombstone. It is probably correct however. He may > have been born in the County that Delaware was carved out of, but it appears > that he was raised on a farm close to the Delaware River, in Delaware > County. As a single man he went to Canada for employment on the Welland > Canal, ended up staying, marrying, married a lady with the surname of Havens > an old New Jersey family and living in Ontario and farmed for a living. He > did very well. > > Samuel b. September 29,1801, married a Rachel Austin January 1 1824 in New > York State and moved to Erie County , Pennsylvania in about 1827/28 where he > farmed. He died in November 15 1872 in Appleton Wisconsin where his eldest > son, a lawyer, was located. There are several family trees that suggest that > he was born in Germany but this is absolutely incorrect. I can provide > sources that prove otherwise to anyone who wishes to contact me off-line > > Jane(?) b.(?) married a Van Wagner. I am not absolutely sure that this is > her name. M y source for this is that her son, who was brought up by his > Uncle John Myers as he was orphaned as a child, gave the name of his parents > as Jane and Samuel Van Wagner. But was he sure, and as he was orphaned how > did he know? His first cousin was a Catherine Van Waggoner the eldest > daughter of Elizabeth (Myers) Van Waggoner. > > As far as I can determine they were a) all born in Delaware County to a b) > farming family c) they all declared Methodism as their religion, d) > according to family lore e) their father came from Germany as a soldier > f)never returned to his Country of origin g) there were 17 siblings in the > family. > > The whole scenario seems to fit quite nicely to the Henry Myers/Catherine > Shaver union. Large family, soldier, Delaware County, Methodist, but no > proof. > > John Myers had one son and three daughters. The son was named William Henry > Myers. The eldest girl was named Catherine Myers. Samuel Myers had 3 sons > and no daughters, the eldest son was named George Henry Myers, 2nd William > T. and the third John. Elizabeth Myers had four sons and two daughters, no > sons named Henry but the eldest daughter named Catherine Van Waggoner. > Jane's son was Lewis Van Wagner. If it were Scottish tradition, as my > personal family is, there would be a 90% chance of a connection. I am not > familiar with any German naming patterns, were there? > > I have followed up on the Public Family Trees on Ancestry and there are > perhaps 15 or 20 trees of Henry & Catherine but only 3 list more than one > descendants, and the numbers of siblings shown is 10. That is not > surprising as there is no doubt 23 of their children would not have made it > to marriage or even adulthood. The list of children on the rough family > tree that I have prepared for Henry & Catherine does include all four on my > list, however, no corresponding birth dates or no birth dates (I am speaking > of years in this situation) > > I have gone through much of the material on the Delaware New York web site > however few clues have shown up. > > Anyone out there have anything that they can share with me, no matter how > small, no matter how "far out". Please, I would really appreciate it. > > Thank you for listening. > > Frank Easton > Sherwood Park > Alberta Canada > > > > > > > ********* > Visit the threaded archives of this list: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/MYERS > ********* > Messages posted to the RootsWeb/Ancestry MYERS Message Board are gatewayed to this Mailing List. Remember that the author of gatewayed messages may not be a list subscriber so please reply to gatewayed messages by clicking on the link and replying on the board. > ************ > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message