I picked a family name out of the hat and found a generation just waiting to be examined. I had always been curious about my maternal great-grandmother’s side of the family. I had the names of three of her siblings, but nothing beyond that.
I have an unusual situation making the flow of information especially challenging. I’m certain any other future research I attempt will be relatively easy by comparison. These unique ancestors originated from a tiny village in Germany and were one of a few rare communities who practiced the tradition of naming more one than one child (living at the same time), the same name. The infants were usually christened after their baptism sponsors, who were frequently relatives. This family happened to be extremely fond of the names Johann and Wilhelm, along with all their regional dialect forms. I’m not sure what rules were applied, but many of them then ended up being called by their middle names, just to make matters more interesting. Johann Wilhelm becomes Wilhelm, while Wilhelm Johann suddenly appears as Johann without warning.
When these ancestors immigrated to America in 1746 their old German fancy script and stylized lettering caused countless transcribed misspellings on passenger lists, tax documents, etc. The names also begin morphing into their anglicized versions; Johannes and Johann, became John. At last count, I had no less than 19 Johns and 8 Williams … and they all had a penchant for marrying women named Elizabeth, Maria, Magdalena, or Mary. And they ALL had more children named John, William, Mary, Elizabeth, and a couple of sons named Eli just for variety. (If I could go back in time I would take along a few copies of “10,000 Names for Baby” as gifts.) Every time I look, more Williams and Johns pop up. It’s like adding too much yeast in bread dough … the thing just keeps expanding bigger and bigger.
It’s not unusual to find these families with ten or more children. When John’s wife, Elizabeth (aka Eliza, Betsey, or maybe if she decided to use a predictable middle name, Mary), died from exhaustion, he just picked out another Elizabeth or Maria or Magdalena or Mary from the ranks and started another batch of children.
Part of the trouble is my great-great-grandfather is Eli. At one point I was convinced there were at least half a dozen Eli’s floating around. Fortunately, my detective work narrowed it down to two cousins, born about the same time. One of them is accounted for; the one who is not my great-great-grandfather, of course. My Eli’s father is one of the many named John and his mother’s name was Mary. The current theory is that his mother (probably John’s second or third wife) died young. While growing up Eli can be found in two censuses living with different families. The heads of each of these families were also both named John and were likely either uncles or cousins. But Eli is not the child of either one; you’ll just have to trust me on this point.
The gene pool also appears to narrow considerably at this intersection, but since Eli was just boarding with the family my direct bloodline is unaffected by the romance between cousins. However, I’m not sure I want to research this area in more depth just in case I’m mistaken!
There are typed lists of ancestors virtually in most rooms of my home. They have been categorized and rearranged according to name, residence, year, and cemetery. I’ve used most of an ink cartridge printing out those lists, scribbling arrows all over them and making notes in the margins. I wrote names on post-it notes and tried to move them around on a large sheet of butcher paper like pieces of a puzzle. I cut smaller pieces of paper so I could fit more names and taped a larger sheet of butcher paper on the wall over the tub in my bathroom. I still ran out of room. I counted the names and came up with over 260, and that is without adding the last 90 years of descendants yet! I have a small city of people that I am living and working with every day. I even have dreams about them.
I have found my Eli’s wife and all eleven of his children (remember, I only thought my great-grandmother had three siblings when I began). I have also located all the original clan in Germany and their first years in Pennsylvania. It’s the bunch in between who absolutely defy being sorted out. Eli’s correct, mysterious parents lived in Ohio, which didn’t begin keeping records of vital statistics until decades after he was born. The censuses of that time period do not list the names of the family members, just age and gender categories.
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