I am participating (selectively) in Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks program of prompts to help you with writing about genealogy and ancestors. The prompt for Week 3 (January 18-24) is “Namesake.”
I have earlier written about my (and my dad’s) personal namesake, Victor Bennett, so I sat down to think of other namesakes. That’s when I remembered an old naming custom in the Caton Community where I live…the practice of calling women with the same name by their husband’s name also.
I’m not sure if other areas around the county, state, or country, had this custom. Several Marys lived in Caton about the same time. To distinguish who you were speaking about, you added the name of the husband to the name of the lady you were talking about.
When I was younger, I recall people talking about an elderly woman in the neighborhood called “Mrs. Mary Abe.” I thought Abe was her last name, until I realized her last name was Toler. She had married my great-grandmother’s brother, Abraham Warren “Abe” Toler.
Mrs. Mary Abe wasn’t the only Mary given her husband’s moniker. The neighborhood also had Mary Allen (Mary Whitford Toler married Joshua Allen Toler) and Mary Mack (Mary Knox married Mack Wetherington).
Two Toler girls had the nickname “Puss”…in fact one has that name listed on her marriage license. While distant cousins, the girls both married Norman men. Since both would be known as Puss Norman, neighbors called one Puss Jess (Penny Toler married Jesse Norman) and the other Puss John Henry (Victoria Toler married John Henry Norman).
This custom has fallen by the wayside in present times, though people have been known to speak of Kirby’s Cathy or Wayne’s Cathy.
Do you know of any others who were called by their husband’s names that I have omitted? Name them in the comments section.