Big Mistake

 Have I found an ancestor who made a big mistake?  No.  Have I made a big mistake in my research?  Yes, if you call skipping a generation.  I briefly hinted about this in Week 1 blog posting labeled “In the Beginning”. 

How did that happen?  It’s because the family loves using the same name!  In this case, it is Caroline Maynard.

Christopher “Kit” Maynard and Eva Shockey had 12 children.  The oldest was born in 1836 with the youngest being born in 1860.  The youngest was named Caroline Maynard. 

My ancestor was Caroline Evie Maynard and she was born in 1865.  At the time, I didn’t know who her parents were.  So, I used census records to make that determination.  I used the 1870 census records and searched for “Caroline Maynard”.  I found one but the birth date was off by a few years.  I was told that quite often census records had the wrong ages, so I wasn’t too concerned about the discrepancy.  So, I thought her parents were Christopher & Eva.  WRONG!  I later discovered that her parents were George Washington Maynard and Sarah Caines.

George & Sarah had a total of 9 children, with the oldest being born in 1857 and the youngest circa 1877.

Caroline had married Booker Keesee and the marriage documents did not indicate who her parents were.  Although, I should have realized that the G W Maynard listed on the document for where the marriage was to take place would be the father. 

When I pulled the 1870 census for George and Sarah, I discovered that Caroline was listed by her middle name “Eva”.  No wonder I made that mistake!

2024 52 Ancestor 52 Weeks - Week 21 - Nicknames

         Lots of nicknames in my family tree.  Mine is “Marcy”.  My brother had “Eddie” and “Eddie Bill” to distinguish him from our paternal grandfather, Ed.  When he became an adult (actually in high school), it was shortened to “Ed”.  Our grandfather had passed away before then.  Actually, it might be better to start with the oldest generation – our great grandfather, William Edward Kludt.  I don’t think he had a nickname – everything I have found had him going be William.  His son, Edward William, was known as Ed.  My dad was William Edward and was called “Billie” when he was growing up and then later shortened to Bill.

       That is just part of the typical nicknames where the person’s name is shortened.  Another is Christopher Maynard with the nickname of Kit.  Probably to distinguish him from his grandfather and uncle, also named Christopher Maynard.  Another nickname in the Maynard family was “One-Eyed Kitty”.  He was the son of  Christopher Maynard.  I’m not sure how he got that nickname.

A great grandmother was named Rosazettie and was known as Zettie.

       Also, there is the typical Molly or Polly as well as Peggy.  Do I know the real names?  Not really.  Some are for Mary, others for Margaret.

2024 Week 9 Changing Names

 Ok . . . let’s see if there were any name changes in my family history.  Not all have been totally researched or proven.

·      Keesee – maybe.  People do have a hard time spelling (as well as pronouncing).  Not proven but it was possible it was originally spelled Keesey.  Prior to that La Cozee.

·      Swinehart – sometimes it is spelled as Swineheart.  Appears to not be changed from the Old Country.

·      Reisner – also spelled as Reissner

·      Ahrendt – various spellings like Ahrent, Ahrendts, Ahrends, Ahrend

·      Secore – Secor

·      Maynard – Mainor

·      Sparr – Spawr

·      Lowe – It could be Low.  However, there is a story that one of the ancestors (not my direct line) changed it to Noe.

·      Caines – Cains, Cain

Of course, there’s always my maiden name (Kludt).  People can’t spell it (or pronounce).  However, the actual spelling never changed from the Old Country (Mecklenburg-Schwerin).

And there’s my husband’s surname – Belles.  Somewhere between 1744 and 1777 it got shortened from Bellesfeld.  Also spelled Bellesfelt, Bellowsfelt, Bellows,  and Bellasfeldt.

Surnames A-Z: M Names

This idea of listing surnames over the coming weeks comes from The Olive Tree Genealogy Blog.  I think this will be fun.

Some of my surnames I have already posted information on . . . others I'm still working on.

Continuing the blog list of surnames for both mine and my husband's family that I'm doing genealogical research.  Maybe we connect, maybe not.

So . . . here are the M's:

Mabbitt - North Carolina, Indiana, Maryland
Mallard - England
Martin - Virginia, England
Maynard - Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina
McCoy - Tennessee, Maryland, Kentucky, Scotland
McKinney - Michigan, Kentucky
McNight - Scotland
Meyer - probably Pennsylvania
Mitchell - England, Virginia (2 separate families)
Mitford - England
Montacute - maybe Ireland
Monthermer, de Monthermer - Maybe England
Morgan - Illinois, Kentucky
Morris - Virginia
Moss - New York
Mould - Virginia, Maryland
Moyle 
Mullen - Virginia
Mullins - Virginia
Musselman
Mustain - Virginia