Here's food for thought to all this discussion about what happens with the name of Gertie or Gertje and Charity. Whether or not it is a nickname doesn't really matter. What matters is what documents show or don't show the useage of either name for the same person. In the case of the Wyckoff family -- they were from Holland originally and first came into New Amsterdam back in the 1600s. Everyone at that time in the area where they resided was Dutch and so pronoucing the various names was not impossible as they knew and recognized the names and probably how to spell them to boot -- including the ministers/clergy and anybody who was responsible for the recordation of vitals at that time. There was no assimilation as they all were part of one big group of people from the same area in the world. There was no reason to angelize the names. Now, when they moved from New Amsterdam into New Jersey we're talking a different ballgame all together. But again it probably wasn't just the Wyckoffs that moved, but several families as migration was generally done in groups -- similiar to the migration patterns leaving New Jersey and heading west. One family didn't go it alone, they got a group of families together and they then moved enmass across the plains to the next location. It was just too dangerous to travel alone -- Indians, wolves, bears, rivers, the weather -- all the elements that for someone or a family might face alone and not have a happy ending. So traveling in a large group was a much safer adventure as well as venture. As noted in one of my previous emails where I provided Charity's ancestry, the Cornelius that was married to a Gertje who was also known as Charity -- that was in the late 1600s, so she would have been one of the first (well in this case, was the first) in this long line of Wyckoff's. But again, we're talking a time period when most, if not the majority or all the folks she would have associated with spoke Dutch and not English, so language was not a barrier or would not have been a barrier. As the author of the Wyckoff genealogy does not provide sources for her name, or any name in the published version, the Wyckoff's do have an association and they have probably gotten a lot of the early research materials that documents her double name. I think I'm going to contact them and ask if they have any sources that justifies who she is. This has been a very interesting discussion. Thanks to several people who sent me info off list. What now has me curious is the marriage date. From the published genealogy the year was 1788, yet the marriage entry from the LDS website says it took place on the same month and day but in 1796, in Somerset County, NJ. That's a 12 year difference. Back to one of my earliler messages about the digitized record all being in the same handwriting, is it possible that whoever created the docket book that was filmed might have minterpreted the numbers and read the first 8 as a 9 and the second 8 as a 6? Early handwriting sometimes does make for confusion which would account for the discrepancy. Or are we talking two different Charity Wyckoff's and two different Samuel Wheatons? Someone else sent me an email where they apparently wenr to one of the websites for family trees and posted a transcription of her will which left things to her two sons and I noted that someone else commented on Samuel's death taking place before the birth of the second child. Did anybody find a copy of Samuel's will? Would love to see how he mentions his wife's name, and what name did he use? Was it Gertje or Gertie or was it Charity? Anyway, bottom line, I'm so glad that I created a subject that got everybody talking and discussing the pros and cons.of why Charity could also be Gertje/Gertie as well as helped with the research to find documentation to prove the marriage and her death in New York. Thanks so much. Hope this kind of discussion continues. It is most interesting to learn of other researcher's delimna when faced with this same kind of problem. Thanks Perry Streeter for your most valuable insight. You and I have corresponded in the past and I know you do a whole lot of research to dig into proofs that have helped me with my lines that join with yours. Haven't heard from you on the list in a very long time. It's great knowing you are still out there. Christie