Week 26: Middle #52Ancestors
Middle seat?
The Middle? [by Zedd – shout-out to CJB]
Middle school?
Middle child? [The well-adjusted kind.]
Middle Earth? [You know who you are.]
Lots of options on this week’s prompt from our fearless leader, Amy Johnson Crow.
How about “middle name”?
It has endlessly bugged my husband’s cousin that their grandfather does not appear to have a middle name. Of the numerous records related to Lee Baty, none of them show a middle name. His siblings have a middle name but not him. While this invites speculation, it is likely we will never know the answer. Insert sad face.
I like middle names immensely. They can be a key to finding the maiden name of an ancestor.
I’ve noted before how hard it is to find women in the records after they marry. However, in my family tree – and I am sure this is nearly universal – I have many ancestors whose middle name (and sometimes first name) is the mother’s family name.
A few examples:
5th great-grandfather Henry Lowe’s middle name “Stonestreet” – his mother’s maiden name.
The same 5th great-grandfather’s son John’s middle name “Tolson” – his grandmother’s adopted surname.
4th great-grandparents Thomas and Elizabeth Batson’s fifth son’s middle “Hatton” – his grandmother’s maiden name.
4th great-grandparents James and Elizabeth Moore’s first child’s middle name “Hightower” – his mother’s maiden name.
I have lots of examples, but I will stop here as I am sure you get the point.
No mistake, when you find this, it is not conclusive proof of a family connection but another helpful piece in the puzzle.
It also reminds me of a funny story.
Growing up, I’d been told that after her husband’s death my grandmother changed my dad’s name from Anthony to Anson because Anthony was “too Italian.” No surprise since she’s also the only one I remember ever using the n-word.
Fast-forward to my genealogy work many years later and, of course, I learn that story only has a little bit of truth to it.
My dad’s father was the actually the only one in the family with “Anthony” as a first name, although his birth return would not tell you that. It took a little sleuthing to find it, but the birth return for him says his first name is “Frederick.”[1] [A “birth return” is similar to a birth certificate – the medical attendant fills it out reporting the birth to the local authority – in this case, the County of New York.] Since I know from other documents that Anthony was born on October 6, 1883, I know this is his return and not that of a brother.[2] When baptized fifteen days later, his name was “Antonius,” Latin for Anthony. Somewhere along the way he adopted “Joseph” for a middle name (his father’s first name). Things were a little more loosie-goosie back then, I guess.
My dad was born Anson Anthony Glacy and by the time he enlisted in the military for World War II, his name was Anson Joseph Glacy. So cool, the story sort of checks out.
Not so fast.
As a collector of family memorabilia, I have a copy of my parents wedding invitation from 1953 where Mr. and Mrs. Charles Peter Maier request the honour of your presence at the marriage of their daughter Mary Regina to Mr. Anson Jordan Glacy.
Say what? Jordan? Where did that come from?
Fast-forward again. I keep plugging along and lo and behold I find that my dad’s great-grandmother was Mary Jordan. Now, my grandmother likely knew her grandmother since they lived near each other and my grandmother was thirty-one when Mary died. Could that be where it came from? I asked my aunt about that and she told me that her brother did go by the name of “Jordy” but she had no memory of why he went by Jordan.
My aunt also told me the real story behind why my dad’s middle name was changed. Apparently, when he was in high school, he used “J” for his middle initial (presumably for “Jordan”). When he graduated, the good fathers at Seton Hall Prep must have decided that the “J” stood for Joseph and his diploma said that. However, when he went to enlist in the Navy, his birth certificate did not match his diploma. Instead of asking for a new diploma, my grandmother did the only reasonable thing – she had his name legally changed.[3] When I say “reasonable,” I don’t mean that.
Bye-bye Anthony, hello Joseph. One family story corrected and one maiden name discovered.
[1] New York, New York County, New York City, Birth Return no. 378547, Frederick Glacy, 6 Oct. 1883.
[2] For example: “United States, World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 July 2020), card for Anthony Joseph Glacy, serial no. not legible, Local Board 5, Essex County, New Jersey; original data United States, Selective Service System, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, microfilm publication M1509 (Washington, D.C. : National Archives and Records Administration), roll 1712104. I have not found that he was a twin.
[3] New Jersey, Department of Health and Senior Services, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Request for correction to be made to original certificate, Anson Anthony Glacy to Anson Joseph Glacy, 24 July 1942, Trenton, NJ.
Chief Specialist (A) V6, USNR, Anson Joseph Glacy, Sr.
Christopher George Goetter and Mary Jordan. Date unknown. Dog unknown.