Middling mysteries

Don’t you love it when you discover a middle name?  It can be a clue to an earlier relative, a mother’s birth name, or a naming tradition that’s been handed down through generations.

Then again, it may just be … a name.  But finding it is a small triumph, because it makes the individual’s story more complete.

Mary Howard Cain

My father’s middle name was Hamilton, and of course I knew that from early days. I even knew that it was the surname of his aunt’s husband.  But I didn’t realize the import given this family until I saw the impressive stone at the Kingston Cemetery in Decatur County, Indiana. It is labelled “Hamilton-Cain” -- not Cain-Hamilton, even though many more Cains than Hamiltons are buried there.  

I’ve mentioned my hunt for Elvira Amanda Kelsey, a relative in my Howard line, from which derives my own middle name.  Elvira came west from Indiana with her widowed mother in the 1860s, married in Oregon, and had three sons:  Albert, Parker and Rowland.  It was easy to guess Albert’s middle name, Kelsey, from the initial K, but I nailed it down when I found Albert Kelsey Thompson listed in the Great California Voters’ Registers of the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.  Thank goodness he was conscientious enough to register!  His brother Parker married well -- to a state senator’s daughter -- and his obituary carried his impressive-sounding full name: Parker Howard Thompson. (His mother’s father was Samuel Parker Howard.)  As for the youngest, Rowland, it took a while for me to find his middle name -- he was simply designated as Rowland M. Thompson in census and Social Security records, and even on his death certificate.  But his World War I draft registration card showed him as Rowland Maynard Thompson.  I don’t know of any specific reason for that name -- yet.  But I’m still working on his father’s line, and perhaps the Maynard name will crop up there somewhere.

A middle name I’m still looking for is that of Daniel M. Howard.  He was my grandmother’s half-brother, who died at the age of 18 in the Civil War.  He served in Company G, Ninth Indiana Infantry (Union Army), and was “slightly” wounded at the Battle of Shiloh.  He “died of fever” while hospitalized, according to his military service records.  But NOWHERE does his middle name appear.

John M. Cain is another puzzle.  His mother was Elizabeth Morgan (my great-great-grandmother, who lived to be 96), so it is a strong possibility his name is Morgan.  But I am not going to assume anything!  And since John died in 1828 it is quite possible I will never know for sure.

There could be a whole subset of genealogy about middle names, don’t you think?  

A post script: Given names don’t always follow family tradition, as I’ve learned to my rue.  After years of trying to find the source of the above-mentioned Samuel Parker Howard’s name, I learned that a charismatic Methodist circuit-riding preacher was in in the region around the time this ancestor was born, in Kentucky. His name: Samuel Parker.

Elmer Ellsworth Cain posed another puzzle, until I discovered the story of the Civil War officer who had led colorful military drills in various venues around the country.  He put on quite a show with his Zouave-like troupe, and went on to achieve the dubious fame of becoming one of the first Union casualties of the war.  His name was Elmer Ellsworth, and not only was my relative named for him, but he named his twin sons Elmer and Ellsworth.

So much for “family” names.

Look and look again

In college days we were told to devote at least two hours to study for every hour in the classroom.  A corollary, for me, is that it’s important to spend at least as much time -- right away -- to examining research results as was expended in planning the original search.  And it is important to go back and look at the material more than once.

The same theory applies to family heirlooms, which are, after all, just as research-worthy. Don’t simply acquire, store and forget.  Old photos could have names on the back that were a vague mystery at first glance, but later have more meaning.  (Take care to examine the front, too -- sometimes really faint writing will show up under close scrutiny.) Costume and hair styles may help date the images and and a photographer’s imprint could provide the all-important location.

As for old letters -- let me tell you!  Years ago, after just a quick look, I filed away a stack of Howard/Cain family correspondence because it was not from the time period I was working on.  It languished, nearly forgotten, until this past week, when I pulled out the box so I could stash away another item. Inside I re-discovered many letters written by my father around the time he enlisted in the Army in WW I. They were sent to his parents and sisters, and besides the wealth of personal information inside, the addresses pinpointed for me where these individuals were living at the time.  

Another previously overlooked find was a 1916 letter from my grandmother’s half-sister which gave me a clue to the whereabouts of her son. I have been trying to trace him for years!

In yet one more missive from this collection, my great-grandfather wrote how he was presented with a gold-headed cane by fellow Masonic members when he retired as Grand Master of the Sunflower Lodge in Wichita, Kansas.  The cane is still in the family, but the details of its 1891 presentation had vanished from our collective memory.

After careful scanning the letters will be placed with their envelopes in a suitable storage environment and I’ll be able to use the scanned images for further study and possible transcription. [For more information on preserving correspondence go to http://www.warletters.com/preserve/  Though the site is specifically about saving wartime mail, the guidelines are universally applicable.]

It is likely there will be more discoveries and unexpected clues when I zero in on the contents of these letters.

I am reminded once more that research more often than not has unpredictable results.  Searching for specific data or scrutinising a set of documents for any possible clue (as I will be doing), may not yield what we think it will.  I can recall times when I was going through vital records for one specific bit of information and instead came up with data I had not even known existed.  And that goes for the second-time-around look, too.

So let me say it again -- as much for myself as for you -- look, and look again!