So far I haven't found anything on my Williams line which starts with Phillip, Sr. about 1742 when his first son was born. But I can shed a little light on Mary (Polly). At least it is my opinion. For several generations, it seems people used nick names much more than now. In tracing my various family lines, I found Mary was always "Polly". Ann was Nancy. Margaret was Peggy. Robert was Bob, John was Jack, William was Bill. And of course a little kid with red hair was "Red". Early on, children were given Biblical names and then they gave names that indicated character or traits, such as Thankful or Patience.
There are a number of websites that deal with nicknames used in the past, so you might find some of these sites of help in determining some of the names: http://www.cslib.org/nickname.htm http://genealogy.about.com/library/bl_nicknames.htm http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohfulton/FemaleNicknames.html Enjoy. Deloris ----- Original Message ----- From: "Eleanor Tobey" <jtobey24@sbcglobal.net> To: <williams@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2007 9:55 PM Subject: [WILLIAMS] Mary (Polly) > So far I haven't found anything on my Williams line > which starts with Phillip, Sr. about 1742 when his > first son was born. > > But I can shed a little light on Mary (Polly). At > least it is my opinion. For several generations, it > seems people used nick names much more than now. In > tracing my various family lines, I found Mary was > always "Polly". Ann was Nancy. Margaret was Peggy. > Robert was Bob, John was Jack, William was Bill. And > of course a little kid with red hair was "Red". > > Early on, children were given Biblical names and then > they gave names that indicated character or traits, > such as Thankful or Patience. > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > WILLIAMS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.10.2/893 - Release Date: 7/9/2007 > 5:22 PM > > -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.10.2/893 - Release Date: 7/9/2007 5:22 PM