Just a comment on the name Lorenzo Dow which shows up in many families in NC. Lorenzo Dow was an early charismatic traveling Methodist evangelist. He was born in Connecticut in 1777 but traveled through out the early United States preaching and spreading the gospel of Methodism. Thousands of male children were named in honor of him throughout the country. You will also find this type of naming practice with some of the charasmatic ministers of the Baptist faith whcih was a powerful religious movement in the region of foothill, western NC and east Tennessee. Another common choice of namesakes were local politicians, war heroes, presidents, or well known historical figures, for example Columbus and Lafayette. A long with the use of family names, often families used the ancestral family surnames as given names. You can find a lot of information on Lorenzo Dow and the common use of his name and teh propensity of his namesakes in the early 19th century by doing a web search. www.google.com is a good one. Just type in Lorenzo Dow and hit search. You'll get hundreds of hits. Hope this helps explain the naming puzzle. Charmaine