Today’s guest post was written by Ed Ammons.
Sometime in the past you posted about the naming of children. We discussed how children were not always named at birth and the possibility that they had no name until they were old enough to name themselves. I think I said I had seen “mother’s child” written in the name space on older census records and had promised to show you them when I ran across an example. Well, here it is…
Not only is there one but there’s a bonus.
This is the 1910 census for Stecoah Township-Tuskeegee Precinct – Graham County – North Carolina. On line 30 of the image, I have underlined the child’s name (or lack thereof) and his age of 1. In the space for his name is written “Mothers child”. In the 1920 census he is shown as Lee W Bailey. Some time between 1910 and 1920 he had gotten a real name. In the 1930 and 1940 censuses he was Lee. Later the W became William in his WW2 Draft Card.
I have Lee Bailey in my family tree however the second “Mothers child” is not. I have it underlined in red on line 48 column 4. His father’s name appears to be Roberson or Robinson and his age is 13 months.
North Carolina did not begin recording birth certificates until 1913. In rural areas it was even later. Prior to then names were often recorded in family Bibles, if at all. As far as I can determine names could be changed at the whim of either the parents or the child without the State being involved. Most children in Southern Appalachia were born at home so the first time the government even knew of their existence was when the next census taker came through.
Fascinating information from Ed. I’ve never studied genealogy but I sure find it interesting, even in a technical way such as the use of “Mother’s child” as a substitute for an actual name.
Like Ed mentioned, Pap and Granny were both born at home. Granny said her mother told her on the day she was born the snow was up above the porch steps and she wondered if the doctor could get there in time, but he did.
Interestingly many women today (not Chatter nor Chitter) have gone back to the old way and are giving birth at home instead of in a hospital setting.
Last night’s video: A Year’s Worth of Mistakes at Celebrating Appalachia.
Subscribe for FREE and get a daily dose of Appalachia in your inbox
A genuine love Spell Caster that can help you win a lottery is Dr Uwaifo contact his text phone: +1(315) 277-2762
All praise to Dr Kuda spell caster that made me smile again today, I won a lottery prize worth $230,000 on December 18th, I played the Virginia Lottery Draw and became a Lottery winner. I work as nurse I earn less than $300 monthly I have been struggling to make it in life take care of my child as a single mother I have been hearing about this Lottery game but I have not try it once, my friend Michelle was telling me how she playing the Powerball ticket games every weekend but she have not win a big amount I was scared of losing the little money I have, I started playing with my faith hopefully to win, when I was going to the lottery store to buy my ticket i over head a woman was talking about this man called Dr Kuda how he meet his website online that he help her to win the Lottery game, I was wondering if this how God want to bless me all this year of my life suffering to have money to pay my bills, i requested Dr Kuda contact and she give me Dr Kuda email I message him and explaining my situation. and he provide me the winning numbers for me to play my Virginia Lottery Draw, after I finish playing i was surprise my name come out in the result the Lottery winner of $230,000 Million Dollars, Am so excited for how Dr Kuda help my life you can also contact him on drkudaspelltemple@gmail. com Or Call and Whatsapp Number +1 (346) 478-1991
Hello Viewers, are you looking for a reliable spell caster to make you win the lotto? then search no further, contact Dr Wealth today and all your financial problems will be over, He prayed for me and gave me a game to play and now i am a millionaire. contact him today and change your financial status. you can email him on drwealthmag@gmail.com you can also call/text him on +12184533734
Thanks, Tipper for sharing your story above. Very interesting. I was told by my aunt Mildred that I was born in a house beside the railroad tract. While my real mother (I was adopted) was having me in one room, my aunt Mildred was having my cousin Kenny in another room of the house. We weren’t born in the hospital. I would never have known this, if it hadn’t been told me by my aunt Mildred. Praying for Granny to get wonderful and blessed results from the doctor’s office. God bless the Wilson and Pressley families.
Being the winner of a multi-million dollar lottery certainly will be a life-changing event for almost every single lottery winner. My name is Mavis Wanczyk from Chicopee, Massachusetts, the famous PowerBall lottery winner of $758 million (£591m). I know many people would wonder how I had won the lottery. Would you believe me if I told you that I did it with spell casting? I met this famous spell caster known as Doctor Odunga and he was the one who did it for me. As shocking as it was to me, my famous comment to the press was “ I’m going to go and hide in my bed.” Never did I believe that Doctor Odunga made me wealthy overnight. If you want to have your chance of winning and becoming very wealthy just like me, contact Doctor Odunga at odungaspelltemple@gmail.com OR WHATS-APP HIM at +2348167159012 and you will be lucky. Thanks for reading and hope to see you at the top
A neighbor had to take an older sister and the family bible to get her Social Security retirement. Her oldest sister got her Social Security card that they all shared thinking it was one per family. i think it was a big mess to fix.
I find the naming of children in my family. My grandfather was married and widowed after several years he met and married my grandmother. Strangely he has two sons named after him. One by his first wife and one by his second . The eldest son was always referred to as Buddy and the second by his legal name Rufus . Intriguing why my grandmother would duplicate the name . I did a bit of on line research before there were charges to view sites. I wish I was aware of this duplication while my grandmother was alive . I would have queried her as to why. My grandmother was very close to all of her step children so she was aware they were creating a second namesake almost a decade later. Unusual to me
My grandfather was one of eight children. He was born in 1900 in Indiana and named himself Claude Ellis Chambers.
It was common in earlier times when children often died young to give the same name to the next child of that gender born after the death. That can lead to a lot of confusion for inexperienced family history buffs. If the family tree has a Catholic brtanch, especially French Canadian as is common among Maine folks, another name puzzle stems from the practice of naming not just one, but a slew of the kids Joseph-Marie then a third name. That one was actually used, especially if an older sibling was already going by Joe or Marie. My dad was the last of 16 Caron kids. Several of his older brothers and sisters were listed as Joseph-Marie in church records and Canadian census. I only had one Uncle Joe. He had a blacksmith shop in Lewiston, a talent he acquired working teams of draft horse in the northern Maine lumber camps from the time he was 14.
When my mom was born, she like all her siblings were born at home. They had a traveling doctor, who after he finished traveling the area would go back to the courthouse to register all the births that week. If he forgot to write down the exact date, he just used the date he turned them in to the courthouse. There were apparently a couple of babies that had the same date he registered the births that week. My mom was one of them. Her birth according to her mother was November 25th, but her birth certificate was dated November 27th. We always celebrated her birthday on the 25th.
That’s so interesting! Never knew a child could wait to a certain age to name himself. My father loves genealogy, so I too have an interest. My great-grandfather was Czech. He had at least 12 children, but on censuses the names are misspelled. Also our last name got a slightly different spelling as well at some point. Makes it complicated to trace who’s related to whom. There’s even two Josef’s who each married a Mary in my family tree!
Bill Burnett, now deceased, was my cousin and a reader of https://blindpigandtheacorn.com/ . His father was named U Z Burnett. Not Uz, not U.Z. but U Z.
Here is a quote from another cousin David DeHart who also researched U Z’s history.
“For Researchers: U Z are not initals for any other names, this was his name. In the US Army Air Force he had problems since they do not want initials, his Military ID read U(only) Z(only) Burnett, I used to kid him his name was Uonly Zonly Burnett/WGB, son”
My paternal grandmother, Mary Tabor Hutchins, named all 9 of us kids, using family names for the most part. My twin brothers were born at home during the Great Depression. Mama was attended by Dr. Fox. The younger twin, John, got his surname as his middle name. That was the only exception to the family names rule Grandma Hutchins allowed. From infancy, the twins never even looked like brothers. Had they not been born at home, Pa would have sworn there was a mistake at the hospital. Even so, he sometimes said that Dr. Fox brought one of them with him in his bag.
Only 3 of us were ever called by nicknames to any extent. My oldest brother, William, was called “Bill” as he was named after my maternal grandfather who was a William called Bill. My oldest sister was named Elizabeth Lee, but my brother Bill, at 4 yo, couldn’t say Elizabeth and called her “Baby Lee”. That name stuck with her until her death. Some friends called her “Lib”, but she was never widely known by that nickname. I was called “Bob” at work when I went to work for a bank. Apparently Robert was too formal for them. I was called “Bob” even through transitions to different employers. Mama was pretty insistent on her kids being called as she chose. She allowed Baby Lee, but once told a neighbor that worked with me that she didn’t know anyone called Bob Hutchins even though she knew coworkers used that name and I answered to it. Paychecks have great power.
I have done genealogy work on both sides of my family and I can attest to the confusion of names!
Another thing to notice in the census image is that it is all written in cursive. What is the next generation of genealogists going to do? I noticed something unusual in an old record a few years ago and asked my son, who was born in 1993, to read it. When he said he couldn’t I moved aside to let him get closer. “I can see it all right, I just can’t read it!” “Why not?” Seemingly embarrassed he said “It’s in cursive!”
It’s a break with the past that I feel falls on the shoulders of our state governments, and us as taxpayers for allowing it to happen.
Morning, Tipper! It’s a cold windy day today. I might have to get myself some hot chocolate. I LOVE genealogy. I searched my roots intensely for 15 years and was amazed at the stamina and surviving skills of family members. I found an ancestor who was with Washington at Valley Forge and thought that was super cool. One gets to reading about these people and you feel like you know them by the time you finish reading their story, but you really want to sit down and just have a nice conversation with them. I can’t press enough how important it is to ask your grandparents especially, but parents and other family members as well, about their lives. What jobs they had in their lives, stories about growing up, maybe you were named after someone special. It’s like putting a puzzle together. You search for one piece and just when you get tired of looking and think you will walk away for a while, you find the missing piece and get excited and keep searching. It’s a great hobby! I’ve been praying for Granny and looking forward for news from her doctor. May God bless you, your family, your followers, and especially Granny!
My 4th great grandfather was a soldier at Valley Forge. too.
Am a believer that one doesn’t need a name straight off. However, my mother gave me the ‘honor’ of naming my youngest sibling. Armed with step-father’s family names, if a boy (early 60s) James Denis & girl Janice Denise. While it suited her, knowing now her personality, wouldn’t have given her that.
My own children were named similar. After father & uncle for the boy and grandmothers for the girl… sorta. Both names are traditional to enjoy the passing of time. Sad that I didn’t get a second girl. Wanted to name her after my sister.
My great grandmother was one of 12 children. All born from 1870 onwards. From a rural part of Ka’u in the Big Island. Probably all were home births. In those days it was a different time. Hoping you all have a blessed new year with your grandsons and well wishes for Granny. Take care. They named them all from previous ancestors, usually the middle name, in homage to that person.
That bit of genealogical history is very interesting! I wonder if there were children who did name themselves, and if so, at what age and what name did they choose? I’m reminded of “Newt” from the movie Lonesome Dove, who sadly, had no real idea as to who his father was. He finally setteled on Newt Dobbs. Dobbs being the name of his unmarried mother.
I’m also made aware by Mr. Ammons writing that just a few generations back, we had no governmental accounting of it’s citizens.
My dad served in WW11 and had mentioned a delay sending him overseas due to a problem with his name being incorrect on his birth certificate. Uncle Sam was calling, and they sure were not going to let a simple thing like a birth record keep a soldier from serving. They did not do genealogy back then nor take time to run through old census to prove identity. It was left up to Dad to prove his name was not John Marion! He had been called Sherm his entire life which was a shortened version of Sherman. The John he just knew was wrong, so they settled for a simple J. Knowing my dad, he did not like the name John. as there were far too many Johns in the family already. I wish I had been more inquisitive then, but for some reason this did not stir up my curiosity. Finally Dad was established with the change of name on the birth certificate to his and the military satisfaction, and he was shipped overseas to the various locations where he served. After my parents had both passed, I delved deeply into all the branches of our family tree. Imagine my surprise when I found a census for Dad’s family where he was a young boy of seven years of age. Right there plain as anything was Dad’s name of John S. His birth certificate had John Marion. and I later found out that was an uncle’s name and was the name of his paternal grandfather. This grandfather did not have a great reputation, so there had been very little spoken of him in the family. Apparently, Dad’s mom had named him after her dad. So much confusion over a name, and this was at a time when almost every child was born at home. I suppose maybe the doctor registered most names from memory because many families never even went to the courthouse until they married. That was even a hardship for the folks who lived back in the mountains. It makes me wonder how many such mysteries were never discovered! Genealogical records can show varying spelling and names for the same person, so it can be quite challenging to determine accuracy. I have had to go with what makes the most sense and/or records showing more of one spelling or name. You can never depend on another’s records, as they are generally full of errors. My dad’s confusing birth records would never have been uncovered had it not been for him serving in the military and then later when I started my interesting journey into exploring the lives of departed ancestors. Neither of my parents knew there was a simple census record that would solve most of it, and both died not knowing my dad’s real name was John.
My story is similar to Betty’s. My great aunt, the youngest of a passel, was called “Baby” until she went to school and was told that “Baby” wasn’t a name. She replied by telling the teacher to call her “Clyde” which we did until she died in her 90s. The last time I saw her, Aunt Clyde was being carried to the car after attending my aunt’s 70th birthday party. When we said our farewells she said, “I don’t say goodbye, I say ‘so long’ ” with a great big smile.”
My dad was born in Dallas Texas in 1913 and his birth certificate says “baby boy” and it was never amended. Gave him problems all his life for Military, marriage license and social security.
I have seen several headstones with the inscription, “Baby Daughter (or Girl Son/boy) of Parents names. ” Some of these would also give an age of 2,3 or more months. My grandmother was a midwife and said many times a baby wasn’t named until the family was confident it would live. When my wife was born her mother said the doctor told her, “She will not survive and if I fill out a birth certificate then there will need to be a death certificate. That’s too much unnecessary paperwork.” When she applied for a job that required a birth certificate her mother took in the hospital record and swore she was the child mentioned. She was issued the statement, “Evidence was presented that (her name) was born on (date)” We were finally able to get her an official birth Certificate in her early 60’s so she could apply for Social Security. She was born in a hospital in NC.
I have an interest in geneaology. I was told that births were often not registered unless the family went to the courthouse to do it. There was also a period of time in Virginia when the state did not keep records either. The myth that circulated about it was that the building burned down. Names were often misspelled because the census taker wrote it down the way they heard it.
A lot of courthouses were burned during the uncivil Civil War. Others were burned by accident when the fireplace or heaters weren’t properly cared for.
My dad was named Duran at birth but like so many others born in Appalachia at that time, his birth was never recorded. When he started school, the teacher asked him his name and he said, Thomas. That was the only name anyone ever knew him by.
My neighbor has ten children who were born at home. They have only lived in the area a few years so I am repeating secondhand information. I know her last baby was born at home as my photographer friend was asked to film the birth. Glad the girls decided to have their babies in the hospital!
I enjoyed this post. I’ve been into genealogy for many years. Many of my aunts and uncles’ births weren’t recorded. They later had to get a delayed birth certificate. It had to be signed by someone (at least 10 years older than they were) to verify when they were born. This was usually a parent. I have an aunt who insisted her mom told her she was born in Nov 1912, but it couldn’t be because she had a sister born in March 1913 (hers was recorded). I think everyone in our family was named at birth, but several of the older ones don’t have middle names. My oldest sister was born at home, but Mom almost died and had to be admitted to the hospital the next day. She lost so much blood and all. My other sister and I were born in the hospital, both by c-section.
My daughter had both her boys at home (intentionally), they are now 7 and 11 years old. She did have a midwife with her. Everything went fine.
My father was the oldest of 9 children. All of them were born at home and all were named at birth. I wasn’t aware that some children weren’t named until sometime after birth.
My fraternal grandmother was born in 1898 in Vance County, NC. She was the youngest of 13. She told me that she was not given a name until she was old enough to name herself. The family called her Sun (for sunshine) until she named herself Eula Pearl after a nice lady in her community. I remember her sisters and other family always calling her Sun, never Eula.
Hi, Tipper
I’ve been so excited to write to you and say we just found out we will be first time grandparents this year along with you!! Our isn’t likely due until late summer but, as usual I’ll be gleaning what I can from your YouTube and blog post on what there is to learn about grands and all. We being the parents of twins also, (ours are boys though) we will be extra excited to experience this new season together.
Hoping to find out the gender at some point to see if we will get a girl like y’all got your boy(s).
Blessing to your family. We pray for Granny Wilson every night.
CC-congratulations! Praying all goes well!! I know you are as excited as we are 🙂
My granny was born in 1921…the first of eight children….she was given the name Marguree……no middle name . My grandfather married her at 15 and changed her name to Marjorie…the correct spelling of her name. She ran away to get married…he was 8 years older…she said papa saved her….her mother threw her few belongings out in the yard as she was needed to help care for all the other children. She and her mother later reconciled. My mom was born 9 months and 2 days after the wedding…my granny was 16…..they went to a movie and had an ice cream sandwich for their wedding celebration with money my grandfather borrowed from his father….they lived with his parents for a few years….then became sharecroppers for a few years. One of my granny’s bothers was not named…his siblings called him Tootsie….he named himself Cecil the first day of first grade when the teacher asked him his name. I could go on and on, I will stop for now. My granny passed the same year your pap passed…..miss her terribly, but so thankful for wonderful memories and her influence on me….. God bless all of you❤️
My mother gave birth to me at home and was three months old before I was named. Although I had a birth certificate, the surname was wrong. It had Baby Steward instead of Stewart. After time, I became a real person..a Stewart.
With the help of midwives, some young women in my church are giving birth at home. Hospitals now have a birthing unit for midwives to deliver the little ones. Midwifery will never go away.
Blessings and prayers to all.
I just don’t know what to think. We think it strange of them doing that but from their time and place they would have thought our situation is strange of us now! To us their legal/social fabric seems so loose. To them, it would have been appalling to be so tightly bound in layer upon layer of detailed personal information as we now are. I think the world knows far too much about me as it is. And the demand for ever more information is insatiable. The computers talk to each other about us whether we know it or not.
I was the last of five children and went unnamed for several months because my father did not care for my mother’s preferred name of Margaret Jane–Margaret after my maternal great grandmother, and Jane, the name of my mother’s best friend. Finally, after three months of being called “Baby,” my father conceded to the name Nancy North, which was the name of a maternal great cousin and with “North” also being my maternal grandfather’s middle name and one that had passed down first as a surname and later as middle names and also with North being both a paternal and maternal name. I’ve always enjoyed my middle name as it has a unique history in my family.
My dad was born at home. The birth certificate said he was born August 31, 1916. The family, always celebrated it on August 30th because my grandmother always insisted that he was born before midnight.
I’m glad Chitter and Chatter are not contemplating a home birth.
Tipper,
This post made me smile. My Mamaw and Papaw were both born in the 1920s – and both changed their names.
Mamaw was named Ruth at birth but my Aunt Pansy took to calling her “Baby Ruth” – and so their parents changed her name to “Eva-Nell Alice.” When Mamaw went to get a delayed birth certificate, she dropped Alice.
Papaw was named after the doctor who delivered him – Claude Johnson. He didn’t like his middle name and so he dropped Johnson, opting to live without a middle name.
I’m glad that wasn’t an option for me. I hated my first name as a kid. It took me a long time – but now I couldn’t imagine it being anything else.
-Cassie
Daddy was born in 1928 & named by his uncle, who was five years old. Daddy was cursed with initials only as his name, J. W., but went by Jay. I believe this was a trend. Grandmother gave birth to my daddy when she was 17 years old, in a primitive cabin with her mother as the midwife. He was early and about 5 lbs., blue & not breathing. My great-grandmother, Grannie Weaver, touched his lips with white lightening, he took a breath & lived to be a healthy 80. Grannie delivered many babies as the local midwife here in NW Georgia. She married at age 14 years of age, her husband 18 years older than she. They were from Gilmer County Georgia. Thankful for my Appalachian heritage.
My mom’s birth certificate said “baby girl McDonald” and she was born in 1947. It was later changed to Laura Louise, but not sure how old she was at that time.
It’s funny how the times have changed.
My grandmother gave birth to 4 of her 5 children at home with her mother tending to the birth. She was as really lucky when it came too her second home birth which was a set of twins, so much could have happened and if it had I wouldn’t have been here today.
I was also not aware that some babies were not given names for that long. One of my family in recent years was not named officially for several days. I’m going to pass this along to a cousin who has done family research because one of these names on the list is my maiden name. Thanks.
I can’t imagine giving birth at home. But all of mine were complicated, so I guess I just would have died! Those women were truly brave. When I get down and out, I think of my mother’s family in Appalachia or my Dad’s family as immigrants. The things they had to deal with! Makes me so thankful.
Chances are you and the baby both would have died. My Grandmother had 7 children born at home and I know of another lady having 12 children all born at home. There were no hospitals for the country folks. Some of the country doctors did have their own very small ‘clinics”. My wife was born in one of these clinics. I mentioned almost dying when born, my Mother had several miscarriages and a baby girl (Donna) carried full term but died at birth before me. They expected complications with me and Mother was carried from a clinic to the hospital at Anderson, SC. Mother would always tell me about the stormy weather and Daddy would talk about the doctor outrunning the ambulance from Belton to the hospital-Feb.20,1954. Thank God for the old country doctors, they tried to do it all with limited equipment or medicines. Unlike the family doctors of today that are more of a referral service for sending you to a “specialist.”
How interesting, thank you Ed for sharing this. I have never run into this. But will be looking deeper into my Mecklenburg family history
My paternal grandpa was born in Kentucky 1904 and was named after the town as a toddler as they moved to Illinois going through the town of Arthur. Gr Grandma Effie said many babies didn’t survive so they named later on. He later added a ‘R’ as a middle initial as an adult.
I have now watched the ‘mistakes’ video twice. I do so admire your family unity and antics. I look forward to all the future blunders or bloopers or how ever you label them. Too fun. Prayers for Granny and God Bless you guys….stay warm and well.
I did not know some children were not named at birth. I did know some did not have birth certificates and only had their birth recorded in a family Bible. I remember working with someone that had no way of proving when he was born (his true age) and the trouble he had with SS when he retired.
I cut the grass at my church and church cemetery when I was a teenager and would see the baby graves of many children. This cemetery started back in the early 1800’s. I would wonder how many of these children might have lived if they were born today in a hospital. I think it is dangerous to try to have a child at home, because you never know what might happen. To me, it would be taking a chance with the baby or mother’s life. In 1954 when I was born, if I would have died if not born at a hospital.
That’s very interesting. My momma was born in the old cabin. Most of her siblings were too. We had such a hard time getting her a birth certificate later in life. It just so happened that one of the older women was still alive that attended her birth. I had to hand write the record and made a mistake and crossed it out. There were no do overs so it’s still on the certificate. We done this in the late 70s or very early 80s. I cannot imagine anyone accepting such a mistake now. Anyway, when it came time for the children to draw social security they used Mamaw’s Bible as one of the proofs of their birth. I’m honored to have her Bible today!
I’m always interested in these type of things and in all the years I have searched the census I have never come across this. Thanks for sharing!