I am referencing the comment in which a poster wrote that "Lorenzo" was an odd name for an English family to use. In the time period in which these ancestors of yours lived, there was a "fire and brimstone" itinerant preacher, at least in Ohio, who greatly influenced the naming of children. My husband has a great-grandfather named Lorenzo Dow McDaniel. You have a Lorenzo Dow, as well. Take the two names together, and it's a pretty good bet somebody in your family heard this minister preach. When I was researching my husband's people, I found that Mr. Dow the preacher had THOUSANDS of babies named after him in something like a 10 year period! When names seemingly "come out of the blue," there is sometimes a direct reference to people who influenced our ancestors whether they were national or local persons. Kathy Gire

Re; the name Lorenzo As with many, I am not only interested in genealogy, but related history, life, lifestyle and "sociology", if you will, that made people the way they were. Family gives a reason to look. Never having heard of the "itinerate" preacher, Lorenzo Dow, he has proven a very interesting example to search, and I am thankful for the information. It ties some things together for me. You always find more questions and few answers doing this. If I may: It proved relevant, as Dow was born in Connecticut and started preaching as a Methodist there. Our family originated in Connecticut in the 1700 & 1800s, they were Methodist Episcopalians, and the first Lorenzo I know of in our family was born in 1851. In the 1850 it was a common name, and naming children after him is one of the things for which he is most famous. Maybe this also shows me another side of the family that is not currently apparent. They may have been somewhat religious rebels. I had found before that Methodist-Episcopalians were Presbyterian breakaways of some kind; there was some divergence that may be reason for some moving from Stamford Connecticut, which our family did. The were recorded as founders of a number of the M-E churches. They later lived in Harmony Pa. [now Lanesboro], and it is the origin of Joseph Smith and the Mormon Church, which apparently some other members of the family followed. There were a few other "religious" connections, and now "Lorenzo" ? Not having been that religious, I may now be spending a lot of time in churches, as I don't know most of these people. A son of a Lorenzo, Roger A. Newman Ref: http://www.curbstone.org/index.cfm?webpage=56 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzo_Dow