Repeated names can be clues to names of earlier family members. Repeated names are not guaranteed to mean that any given ancestor had a particular name, but names used over and over may mean something and have some connection to an earlier biological relative.

I was looking over a list of heirs of Barbara Haase who died in 1903 and realized that out of her twentysome grandchildren, two were named Kate. I had never noticed that before. Does it mean anything? At this point, I’m not certain. However, if I eventually get “candidates” parents of  Barbara, I’ll work first on any couple where the wife is named Katherine or the name Katherine appears frequently.

Don’t just look in your direct line of descent for name clues.

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5 Responses

  1. This comment is in reference to the second part of today’s post: Did Your Ancestor Own Books
    My question concerns this sentence:
    Thomas’ widow, Christianna, purchased these books (not just the apparent family Bible) from the estate sale of her husband’s estate in the fall of 1823.
    Why would the widow have had to buy the books from the estate?
    Thank you, Anita

    • Joh’s right that the will would have specified what was to happen. In this case there was no will and the procedure had to follow state statute which likely required a sale of assets.

  2. To answer the above question from Anita, in that time period, the will would spell out what the widow would receive from the estate. It would often say that everything else was to be sold at “public vendue”. If it wasn’t willed directly to the widow, she would have to buy it at the public sale.
    I had a widowed ancestor that had to buy back her own homemade applesauce!

  3. In my “Brown” family line, originally from Portsmouth England, the names of Russell (which is a surname from the female line), Samuel, John for males and Elizabeth, Harriet and Jane for females, were common throughout the 1700’s to current day.

    On my father’s side, like you, I have Katherines that run through the family. The spelling has changed though, my grandmother’s middle name was Katherine and my middle name came from her, although my parents changed the spelling to Catherine.

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