My two cents worth.....my German ancestor, born about 1770 had the name Aug. Ferdinand Reinman. He never used the (Aug) here in this Country. Ella ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Drake" <pauldrake@charter.net> To: <VA-SOUTHSIDE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, July 18, 2005 7:39 PM Subject: [VA-SOUTHSIDE-L] Re: [VAROOTS] Re: middle names > Thanks, Fred. What you have said is surely true. To set the > record straight since M. N. seems to be the subject of some > measure of criticism for her list, she is a fine and thorough > researcher (and a blind copy of this is going to her) suggested > those names as evidentiary of the use of middle names, she was > not offering that list as proof positive of anything about any > line. Rather, she was suggesting that those multiples that > appeared in her own records might be illustrative of the > practice. > > I think the matter may be summed as you have done, and also by > saying simply that reliable sources should be sought out for > any and all names, be those 2, 3 or 10 in number. So, the need > for accuracy in all things genealogical should include searches > concerning all such multiple names, since one may find revealed > nicknames, baptismal names, names used or assigned informally > to differentiate one person from another, maiden names carried > forward by choice to identify or to please an ancestor, middle > names given boys to honor their predecessors, or names simply > assumed by the "owner" - the person wearing those symbols. > > Finally, there are myriad examples, though a small percentage > still, that serve to illustrate that the Europeans and > Scandinavians often assigned mid names before it was considered > fashionable by those who came here. Paul > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Fredric Z. Saunders > To: VAROOTS-L@rootsweb.com > Sent: Monday, July 18, 2005 5:14 PM > Subject: RE: [VAROOTS] Re: middle names > > > Hi Paul, > > I would agree with your first posting, that is was usually the > "upper class" > that might have used a middle name in Colonial America. To > that I would add > that it was usually about the early 1700s before I have seen > any of these, > and those are few and far between. For those of the early > 1700s I have seen, > the middle name was often a family name, being either the > mother's, > grandmother's or earlier generation maiden name. > > German lines excepted, I would say it was *generally* mid > 1700s before there > was an *occasional* usage of a middle name where it was not a > family > surname. I would also caution anyone finding an alleged middle > name for an > ancestor before 1800, to verify that usage through original > records. > > I can cite dozens of examples of persons from my own ancestry, > where > Internet sources or FamilySearch/Ancestral File list a middle > name for a > person, that there are no such records that anyone can cite > showing that > "middle" name. If asked to a cite an original record showing > the person had > a middle name, the answer is invariably that the person can't. > They just > copied what someone else said. > > As for how those mistaken listings of a middle name started, I > can identify > how several did. (1) To go with your second posting, which > contained > several listings of BEALL and related families, my ancestor > Ninian HAMILTON > was born about 1715. He had a son Ninian Beall HAMILTON who > was born in > 1739. Some people have assumed since the son had the middle > name Beall, the > father did too, but there are no records showing that. I know > of several > instances as this, of confusing names of a later generation > that did have a > middle name, with an earlier one that didn't. > > (2) On sort of a related note, I have seen numerous instances > of people > confusing a listing of a maiden name with that of a middle > name. As an > example, I have an ancestor Sarah BURGESS born ca. 1691, who > was the > daughter Edward BURGESS and Sarah CHEW. When people write > about the mother, > some will write her name as "Sarah Chew Burgess", rather than > as Sarah > (Chew) Burgess, or Sarah (CHEW) BURGESS. For both the latter, > it is > identifiable that CHEW is a maiden name, and not a middle > name. All it takes > is one person to think that "Sarah Chew Burgess" is the > daughter (rather > than mother) and assign her the middle "Chew". A hundred > other people come > along and copy the information of the first, and suddenly > everywhere you > look, the daughter born ca. 1691 now has a middle name Chew. > Person number > 101 will come along and think "100 people list it, so it must > be correct", > but not one of the 101 can cite a record showing she had a > middle name. I > have seen this happen many times in early 1700s MD records. > > (3) Some people have confused a person signing with a mark as > being a middle > initial, and assumed therefore the person had a middle name. > An original > record might show that a person signed their will or other > document as "John > D Doe" with the word "his" above the "D" and the word "mark" > below the "D". > In their abstract/summary of the document they neglect to list > the words > "his mark" and list it as signed "John D DOE." The same 100 > persons as > listed in number 2 come along and copy each other, and now > list John DOE as > John D. DOE. Again, I have seen this happen a number of > times. > > I would also ask that the person "M. N." whose e-mail you > forwarded to the > list to please contact me. James BEALL and Anne Marie CALVERT > are often > alleged as the parents of my ancestor Ninian BEALL. Although I > have been > asking for 20+ years, I have yet to see one person who can > cite ANY original > record of this James BEALL to show he even existed, much less > that he had a > son named Ninian. While James has been alleged as the father > of Ninian since > the early 1900s, it is only in about the past ten years that > mentions of a > wife "Anne Marie CALVERT" have appeared. I believe its first > appearance was > on the Ancestral File, with at the same time a listing giving > James (if he > exists) a middle initial B. Any actual record showing she > actually existed > are as elusive as those of James BEALL. > > So, I will once again ask, hoping that someone can provide > evidence that > James BEALL even existed, and if he did, that there is > evidence that Ninian > BEALL of MD is his son. > http://home.netcom.com/~fzsaund/beall.html > > Rick Saunders > http://genealogypro.com/fsaunders.html > > -- > No virus found in this outgoing message. > Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. > Version: 7.0.323 / Virus Database: 267.9.0/50 - Release Date: > 7/16/2005 > > > > ============================== > Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records > added in the > last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. 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