Spud?!?

Fish Have Ancestry Too
Last week I talked about the "Operation Seek & Dispose" mission that I had to perform for my son. [You know, his 4 dead fish.  What do you mean you didn't read that post?  How could you not?  It was quite fishy...]  Well, the following mission, "Operation Return & Replace" was successful.  [Thank God.]  I purchased my son a red Siamese Fighting Fish, otherwise known as a Betta.  As a sidenote, why are they named Siamese?  I looked it up for you because I knew you'd be curious about this just as I was.  [Just nod your head in agreement]  Well, according to this article I read [here], the ancestors of the modern day Betta were from Thailand, which was once a part of Siam.  Their habitat consisted of dirty puddles in the rice paddies.  They would jump from puddle to puddle looking for I-don't-know-what.  A muddier puddle?  A cleaner puddle?  A smaller one?  A bigger one?  I don't know, but could you imagine these beautiful fish ~red, blue, blue-green~ jumping from dirty puddle to dirty puddle?  Yeah, me neither.  They weren't as pretty as today's fish ~less colorful and smaller fins.  But they didn't need to be pretty because they were bred to fight [for bravery not death], and this made these ancestors of the modern day Betta hearty, which, of course [finally], brings me to the reason I bought this fish for my son.  This fish is hearty.  I explained all this to my son on our way home, and then I asked him what he was going to name him.  He replied,  "Spud."  I asked him why, and he said, "You know, like the potato."  That's it.  That was the whole explanation. [rolling eyes heavenward ~ ooookay]

Did Your Ancestors Have A Sense of Humor?

Because of my dad's love of animals and that pet shop he bought my mom [Yeah, you should've read the fishy post.],   I learned a lot about them, and I have a few more stories ~ family stories, that is, about them.   And that's what they really are, aren't they?  Family stories?  I know our pets that we have now are a part of our family, and are at times, a part of a few stories if not the butt of a few jokes, too.  [Just like the rest of the family members.]  And that whole "Bettas have ancestors, too" explanation above reminded me that our ancestors, had pets too.  Pets that were a part of their family.  Ones that were part of some of their family stories, and I'm sure were the butt of a few jokes, too.  [Cuz, I don't know about you, but I like to believe that my ancestors told a few jokes.  Maybe a few inappropriate ones, too.  I mean, where did my sense of humor come from, right?  Don't answer that.]

Do You Know Your Pedigree?  Millie Does.
Well, one day when I was talking to my father-in-law about the whole "our ancestors had pets too theory," he mentioned casually that his grandmother, Pearl, had a dog named, "Brownie."  [Screeeech. Stop the presses.  Now, let me just pause and say that I have a "thing" for Pearl.  This is my favorite photo of her on the right. Sigh.]  The beautiful Pearl had a dog named, "Brownie."  That's it.  I don't know anymore.  And that's cool.  [Of course, it'd be nice to know a story or two involving Brownie, and maybe a photo would be nice.  Greedy much?]  Oh well, just to know that she had a pet ~ a dog named Brownie ~ is good enough.  Why?  Because I've had enough pets to know that they have stories, and, indeed, they make us laugh with their antics.  Sometimes, though, it's how they look that will make you smile.  Proof of this is in the puddin'.  Below is my Pug, "Millie."  Actually her official registered name is "Whitney's Pugnacious Pride."  [Millie knows her pedigree.  Do you know yours?]  Isn't she the most beautiful pup you've ever laid your eyes on? [Quit snickering.]:

A Loyal Friend
So, I guess the whole point of all this is to remind you that your ancestors, too, had pets.  That, amongst all the "facts" ~the birth, marriage, and death dates~ some of your ancestors had a dog that licked their face at the end of a long and arduous day.  They had a cat who jumped on their lap and who purred and "made bread" on their arm.  A pet, a friend, a family member who was loyal and put a smile on their face.  A pet that they named a descriptive term, like "Brownie" because they were brown [and maybe your ancestor had a thing for chocolate?].  Maybe your ancestors gave them an odd nickname, much like they gave their human family members [and I think this is very true when I'm researching and I come across an odd name that makes me think, "What the..."] .  Maybe they named them, "Spud."  You know, like the potato.

Your Turn
So, did your ancestors have any pets?  Do you have photos and/or stories of them?  Do tell...in the comments section...

"Making" a Family Story Up

Where Does Your Name Come From?

Have you ever thought about where your name came from? Maybe you already know, but then again maybe you don't...I know that I'm named after my mom, and that I share it with my great-great grandmother Catharine Caroline Vaughn. Also, I already shared with you how I acquired my middle name Martin. I'm one of the lucky ones, though. Nowadays, so many don't know where their name comes from.

It's Personal

However, I never realized how important given names are in finding your family story until I started doing genealogical research. Actually when you think about it, names are highly personal to us now, so why wouldn't they be highly personal to our ancestors? If you have children, think about the time you spent and the thought processes that you went through picking out your children's names.

Diggin' Up Stories

There are so many aspects of researching given names that I love and that I use consistently in my research - from name origins to naming patterns. It seems that whenever I start digging into given names, they seem to reveal family stories. I am by no means [not even a smidgen] an expert on genealogical given name research [say that 10 times fast], but hopefully it can help others in their research. Oh, and if you don't do genealogical research [What, there are people who don't?], then I hope it gets you thinking about your family's given names and the family stories that may be behind them...

A Family Story Within a Family Story...

As I was going through my husband's family's genealogy jackpot cache this week, I stumbled upon something of my own family's meager heirlooms. Remember the WWI Victory Medal that is probably my grandfather's that I found in my father's old jewelry box? Well, there were a few more items that I found. One of which is a lady's powder compact with matching [and at one time] attached lipstick. They both still have "product" in them, and the lipstick is bright red. Now I'm pretty sure they aren't my dad's. How? Because he never wore that shade of lipstick [badump-bump...] Seriously, I think it was my Paw-Paw's [his mother's] makeup. They weren't my mom's, and my Paw-Paw died a year before my dad. So, it's a possiblity... The bottom of the compact is stamped with "Made in the U.S.A." [don't see that much anymore], and the bottom of the lipstick reads: "Jacqueline Cochran New York Distributor" and the shade is "Firecracker" [and it certainly is...]. I'd never heard of Jacqueline Cochran, so I "Googled" the name [you know you've made it when the name of your business is also used as a verb...]. Do you know who or what Jacqueline Cochran was? Well, it's the name of a cosmetics company started by a [you guessed it] Jacqueline Cochran. She was a woman who had grown up poor in Florida moved to New York and became a hairdresser who also "dabbled" in the making of cosmetics. She was a hair dresser to the "rich" and was often invited to their parties. She often traveled with her wealthy customers, and this is how she met a tycoon [what are the odds, right?], Floyd Bostwick Odlum, who would eventually become her husband [just as soon as he stopped being someone else's husband...tsk-tsk]. He basically funded her cosmetics business, but that's not what she's usually known for...she was a pilot in the same era as Amelia Earhart, and she won many races and set a multitude of records in aviation. In addition, she led the WASPs [Women's Air Force Service Pilots] in WWII. [These women serving in WWII are everywhere.]

If You Want, Make Up Your Family Story...

Jacqueline Cochran, however, was not really Jacqueline. It seems that Jacqueline was not really proud of her family's poverty and her real family story, so she made her own family story up that included her being an orphan, raised by a foster family, and she even changed her name from Bessie Lee Pittman [which doesn't really have the same ring to it...]. Anyway, some of her family [who did exist] who lived with her later in life on her ranch in California were instructed to say that they were her adopted family...[now that's a tidbit that could come in handy with some of my family members - lol]. Her whole story can be found here, here and here.

Named After Aviatrix and Cosmetics Line?

So, what does this have to do with my family story? Well, I've done a lot of research on my Paw-Paw's lines, and one thing I know to be true is that there are definite naming patterns in all her lines [that ended up in Johnson County in Southern Illinois]. So, it always baffled me that my Paw-Paw named her only daughter, my aunt, Jacqueline [and she named her daughter, my cousin, Jacqueline]. Coincidence? Maybe...it looks like I am going to have to call my aunt again, to see what she knows, but I do find that it is at best, very suspicious, and at worst, very interesting that this name has "popped" up and has uncovered another family story [Bessie's, not mine...yet].

Martians, Marshmallows, and Genealogy...

Paw Paw

This is my Paw Paw [my grandmother on my dad's side]. These are some of my favorite pictures of her because they are so expressive. The picture in the center I think is very fitting for Mother's Day, as this was taken with her children [my dad and aunt]. Rettie Maye was born in Southern Illinois in 1913 and was the daughter of Lillie Mae Alley and the grandaughter of Catharine Caroline Vaughn [both also of Southern Illinois]

Stop Calling Me a Martian!

Growing up I always hated my middle name, Martin. When you're a kid, you don't want to be different and my name was definitely not the norm - 2 surnames or a man's name for a middle name [definitely not cool]. I was the object of a lot of teasing and name-calling when other kids found out my middle name. The most popular names were martian and marshmallow. The second nickname making fun of my last name, Marshall [cuz hey, why not?], and sometimes there was that kid in the crowd that put them together: Martian Marshmallow [ha-ha. Very funny]. No worries, though, I'm made of sterner stuff than that, and although I'd like to say that I took the high road and ignored them, I can't. I gave as good as I got...[after all, what would you expect from a bossy, oops, I mean managing woman/girl?

Mom, Why Did You Give Me the Middle Name, Martin?

I just never understood why my mom gave me the name, and I never thought to ask until much later in life. So, why did she give me the middle name, Martin? She said that I was named after Paw Paw's maiden name, and that Paw Paw and I [at the time I asked] were the only one's left in her father's line to carry on the name, and she went on to explain that my Paw Paw's brother and all of his kids died in a house fire [arson: a story for another day]...

Oh. [sigh] Now I've got to say that since that day, I've been so very proud to be named after her...My Paw Paw died in 2003 and now I'm left to carry on the Martin name. Happy Mother's Day, Paw Paw!

[So, does anyone else have any childhood nicknames that they hated, or how about a family story behind a maternal name in your family? Share it in comments, if you want...]

Caroline