Favorite Name #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Mary, Sarah, Emma, Elizabeth, Anne

Thomas, John, William, James

I think I must like traditional names.  Even though these are all names from my own family. There are those quirky ones too.

Mentioned before in this blog is Royal. He is my 2nd great grandfather. See his story here. Suicide of Early Settler.
 
Then there is my aunt who was named Darlene Doll. Evidently, she was a darling doll.

Both of my grandmothers were named Nina.  One was Nina Lorene and the other Nina Frances. Thus, the name runs rampant in their descendants.  My grandfather also had similar names. One was Bert and the other was Albert. I can only think of one son of Albert who carried his name but none on the other side. I guess the grandma's names were a little more popular than the grandpa's names.

Someday, I hope to do a little "who was named for whom" study. The few I know are fun.  For example, my great aunt, Ardea Agnes Smith Stevens, must have been given her grandmother Mary Agnes Ford Smith's middle name.  Hiram Smith, the father of Ardea, lived to see his grandson, John Hiram Grisso, named for him. John carried both of his grandfather's names. John Martin Grisso and Hiram Lee Smith.

Sometimes when doing research I want to scream.  Please, no more Georges or Williams on my mom's side. Dad's side has more Ebenezers than I want to deal with.  Obviously, the 1000 baby name books were far in the future. Of course, it was a  privilege to be honored with having a baby named for you.

When I was eleven, I had that honor. My aunt and uncle had a little girl who they named Mary Margaret. Mary for my mother and Margaret for me. I know because they told me that. The fact that the baby's mother's name was Margaret made no difference to me. At age 70+, I accept the baby carried not just my mother's name, Mary, but also her own mother's name, Margaret.

In the Census

The first few prompts for #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks seemed to just write themselves. Not this one. In fact, I am now behind. Oh, well.

Census records are interesting. From census records I have accepted that many errors exist in records.   This becomes clear when I found my Grandpa Bert’s name spelled “Burt” in one of the first census records I read. However, I did enjoy learning the various occupations Grandpa had held. He supported family of eight working from one job to another. The times were hard.

In the first census record  for Bert Roscoe Grisso, he is four years old.  The family consisted of:

John M. Grisso         age 33
Laura A.                     age 27
Burt                        age 4
Gertrude                 age 2
John Crick               age 23

Don't you wonder who John Crick might be?

A little further investigations in the census records lists John Crick as a servant and white.  He also is listed as farm labor and John Martin as a farmer.  I always heard Grandpa John Martin was a teacher. In a later census (1920) he is listed as a dry goods salesman. However, his daughter, Gertrude, is listed as a teacher.

Yes, there are many things to learn from the census reports. All one needs is time to do the research.