Delilah Townsend Cornell and her namesake
Have you ever considered a name to be a clue as to relationships in your family history? If so, then you’ve already experimented with onomastic evidence in your genealogy!
Onomastics, or the study of the origin, history, and use of proper names, is sometimes a useful indicator of relationships in genealogy research. However, in stories with well-documented identities and relationships, a naming pattern may end up overlooked as mildly interesting but irrelevant. Do those cases warrant a closer look at the onomastic evidence?
According to the place history Landmarks of Steuben County, New York, Delilah Townsend, the first wife of Smith Cornell, died in 1829. The 1830 Federal Census indicates five sons and two daughters, but so far, I only know the identities of four of the sons: Smith, Hiram, Socrates, and Hamilton.
Hamilton T. Cornell lived an adventurer’s life, although you might call it a scoundrel’s life, depending on your perspective. Either way, the word “wanderlust” seems to fit him. He left his wife and six of his eight children behind in New York to seek his “fortunes”—including lawsuits, miner’s camps, miracle elixir sales, and making it all the way to California with two more wives and at least five more children in his wake. (To track him through time, you can start with these Censuses: 1850, 1855, 1860, 1860, 1870, 1875, and 1880.)
One of them, he named Delilah.
Onomastic evidence can take many forms. Traditional naming patterns can provide clues to parents names. Names might hold clues to the parents’ priorities (as with Biblical names, for example). Namesakes can hint at the regard parents may have held for the honoree.
I find it fascinating that long after Delilah Townsend Cornell passed away, and far from the eyes of his family, Hamilton the Adventurer would name a daughter for his mother.
With limited details in genealogy, I sometimes forget that people are complex. The details Hamilton Cornell left in officials records and in print form one composite picture, and it’s easy to overlook the details that don’t support it, such as those that suggest that the footloose adventurer loved and missed his mother.
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Other views
I’m no expert on onomastic studies, but it is one area that I’m hoping to learn more about throughout this year. I’ll definitely write more on this topic in the future! In the mean time, here are some resources you can view!
- What’s in a Name? via Digging for Ancestors
- Ancestors in the Records: Naming Patterns via Understanding Your Ancestors
- Genealogy: Look for cultural naming patterns by Barry J. Ewell via Genealogy by Barry
- Comments on Naming Patterns via Bob’s Genealogy Filing Cabinet
What about you?
Ever had a breakthrough that began with clues seeded in a personal or family name? Tell me your amazing discoveries related to onomastic evidence in the comments below!
P.S…
It’s all fun and games until your genealogy research uncovers something terrible. Next week, we’ll talk about what to do when it happens to you.
I’ve found this especially helpful when looking for a maternal line within a given community. Not just a parental naming pattern (eldest son after his father or paternal grandfather, or eldest daughter after her mother or maternal grandmother, depending on the culture, for instance) but of clustering of siblings’ names, too. It’s helped me repeatedly narrow the focus.
In one case, it also narrowed the shock when my ancestor appeared in bastardy court records. The mother never married the man I’d correctly deduced was the father, even though the surnames that were generally applied to the child weren’t the legal one.
Sounds like you’ve got a winning strategy, Jnana! At various times I’ve seen some helpful sibling names that strengthen my case for relationships, but I haven’t figured out a methodical way to search for name clusters. That’s a great idea!
I am just in the initial stages of piecing my family tree, but was startled today to find an ancestor named John, whose father was Johannes and his father was Johannes. So perhaps a son named John is understandable. However, this list of children’s names makes me wish for the whole story – was he extraordinarily unimaginative? Stubborn? What was the effect on poor Phillipus? There is a seven year gap between Phillipus and the only other male non-John, so I don’t suppose they would build a “No Johns Allowed” clubhouse and shoot spitballs together.
John Herman b. 1846
John John b. 1848
John Henry b. 1851
John George b. 1851
Phillipus b. 1854
Margaret Louise b. 1856
Caroline Fredericke b. 1858
John Edward b. 1861
Herman b. 1861
Mary Catherine b. 1869
In my imagination, Mama puts her foot down after the first set of twins. “I’ve given you four fine sons, all named John, the next one’s MY turn”. So she names Phillipus and the girls, then when the next set of twins comes along it’s Papa’s turn again. He gets all creative with the Herman, however note that the eldest is probably called by that name. Pretty hilariously mystifying!
Kimberly, that is some family! Two sets of twins, repeated names… Wow!
Your comment reminded me of some place I read about a family giving all their girls the first name “Maria,” so I did some searching and found a link for you! It’s about German naming patterns and customs, and here it is: http://www.rieperoots.com/pages/Names/customs.htm (I do like your version better!)
Thanks for stopping by and for commenting! 🙂
Oh my, THANK you! That totally explained it – now I can stop maligning my stubborn, unimaginative ancestor and think of him as . . . keeping tradition alive in the new country :-). I still feel bad for poor Phillipus, though ;-).