{"id":59233,"date":"2020-06-16T13:25:43","date_gmt":"2020-06-16T17:25:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=59233"},"modified":"2020-06-17T10:48:25","modified_gmt":"2020-06-17T14:48:25","slug":"genealogy-challenge-your-ancestors-name-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/genealogy-challenge-your-ancestors-name-change.html","title":{"rendered":"Genealogy Challenge: Your Ancestor\u2019s Name Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Mary Harrell-Sesniak gives tips for a challenging genealogy problem: researching an ancestor\u2019s name change. Mary is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background.<\/em><\/p>\n

Did your ancestor petition the court to change a name \u2013 and was the reason disclosed? Many people go to court and change their names, but reasons vary greatly. How can you find out more about your ancestor\u2019s name change?<\/p>\n

Some people change their name because of adoption or a change in marital status \u2013 and others due to different motivations \u2013 including personal preference, an unwanted association, or for legal reasons.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:<\/a>
Illustration: artist\u2019s rendering of proposed U.S. Courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida, 1899. Credit: Florida Memory Project.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Whatever the reason, a name change generally resulted in corresponding newspaper notices. Often it was dictated by law that a name change had to be published in the local press, to make an effort to inform the public and interested parties. By searching old newspapers, such as GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a>, you might discover the story behind your ancestor\u2019s name change.<\/p>\n

My Family<\/strong><\/p>\n

In my family there are several instances of legal name changes, so even if you don\u2019t think it happened in yours, it\u2019s a genealogical occurrence that is commonly overlooked.<\/p>\n

For instance: a name change in my grandchildren\u2019s ancestry has to do with a parent who died. The mother remarried and so the family took on the step-father\u2019s surname which is used to this day.<\/p>\n

Another example, which I have written about before, happened to my great grandfather, nee Edgar Hanks, who was indentured by the George Thomas and Mary (Robertson) Evans family of Indianapolis after they lost a child.<\/p>\n

He had used the Evans name since the age of four, so it appeared to everyone that he was a natural born child as they loved him dearly and raised him as their own. He was officially adopted by the mother who raised him until she became a widow. He then legally became Edgar Hanks Evans in his 40s to protect the inheritance. Note: his story is interesting, as his birth mother had turned him over to a children\u2019s home after becoming impoverished. She kept in touch with his adoptive family and later in life he was able to meet his half siblings.<\/p>\n

Another reason which occurred in my husband\u2019s family was because certain family members wished to make the surname easier to spell. By dropping the zcz<\/em> in Szczesniak, it was hoped that the world would no longer twist and turn it into unfathomable variations. Sesniak was the result, although to this day, we are still confronted with odd typos.<\/p>\n

Here are some historical examples of name changes for readers to think about.<\/p>\n

George Keiser Needed Work<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because of American antipathy toward Germany in 1917 during WWI, George Keiser of San Diego wanted to change his name because he didn\u2019t wish to be associated with the German Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II. He chose a more generic surname (Lee) so that he could gain employment.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
San Diego Union (San Diego, California), 4 August 1917, page 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

E. J. Richards Wanted to Reinstate His Birth Name<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alternatively, E. J. Richards wished to \u201ctransmit to his children their ancestral name\u201d of de Turbeville years after his father Samuel chose to drop a portion of the de Turbeville surname.<\/p>\n

His notice contains a treasure trove of genealogical evidence. In this 1875 petition, which I will leave for you to read, we learn not only about where he was born, but much about close family members, including a sister\u2019s married surname.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Napa County Weekly Reporter (Napa, California), 10 March 1877, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Alma Pool\u2019s Name Was Changed by Adoption<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re wondering about a family adoption, it\u2019s possible a newspaper recorded it. We can imagine that Alma Pool, a minor, was adopted by Stephen Kissinger after she either lost one or more of her parents, or they were no longer able to care for her. In this case, look for an orphan court record.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Tampa Tribune (Tampa, Florida), 24 June 1920, page 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bessie Campbell Restored Her Maiden Name of Bessie Mansell<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the same Tampa Tribune<\/em> article above, another decree mentioned a petition filed but not yet granted. Bessie Campbell wished to have her maiden name Bessie Mansell restored, implying a termination of a marriage either through death or divorce.<\/p>\n

Lelah Edgerton\u2019s and Marcy Pendleton\u2019s Reasons Not Divulged<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although divorce or death is implied when a married woman requests a name change, never assume a reason as it is possible a newspaper kept it brief for privacy reasons, or perhaps there were other reasons. In all cases, court records would hopefully reveal more information.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Indianapolis Journal (Indianapolis, Indiana), 13 May 1903, page 11<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This name change notice is one of the earliest I found (from 1874). Notice the reference to order of publication.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Daily National Republican (Washington, D.C.), 31 March 1874, page 8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Karl Emil Marklund\u2019s Reason Was Not Disclosed<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some name changes only appeared in the newspaper as a brief notice without much detail. For example, Karl Emil Marklund\u2019s request was granted by decree \u2013 but that\u2019s all the newspaper notice announced. In a case like this, you\u2019ll have to turn to existent court records to learn more.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Rockford Republic (Rockford, Illinois), 14 April 1910, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Comments<\/strong><\/p>\n

As you hopefully realize, newspaper notices, such as these from GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a>, are the starting point to proving family histories \u2013 whether you are looking for the reason of a known name change, or wondering if the reason you\u2019re at a dead end is that a name change occurred in your family!<\/p>\n

Please let me know in the comments below if you found a family name change in the papers, and if the reason was disclosed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this article, Mary Harrell-Sesniak gives tips for a challenging genealogy problem: researching an ancestor\u2019s name change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":59273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12713],"tags":[6215,12,2719,2020],"class_list":["post-59233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genealogy-research-tips","tag-ancestor-name-research","tag-genealogy","tag-genealogy-search-tips","tag-newspaper-archives"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/illustration-0215-2017-featured-graphic-computer-user.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59233"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59281,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59233\/revisions\/59281"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}