Surname Saturday - Dodge

This week's Surname Saturday post shines the spotlight on the name Dodge, which is from the maternal side of my family tree. It's a bit of a mysterious line, because it is rather a brick wall for many researchers of this family. My closest relative with this surname was Susannah Dodge, my 4th great grandmother, who married John D. Sutton. But let's get to the surname first and then move onto some of the family history and mystery.

Susannah (Dodge) Sutton and John D. Sutton

Surname Saturday - Whitney

I've recently been trying to expand my family research into the Whitney line, which is on the paternal side of my family tree. I wish I'd focused on this line sooner, because it's taken me quite far back into my family history and I've found some very interesting new ancestors. So, I decided I'd throw a spotlight on the Whitney name for this weeks' Surname Saturday.

The surname of Whitney was originally a place name. The family takes its name from Whitney parish located in County Hereford (Herefordshire) in England. It's located on the extreme western border adjoining Wales and the river Wye travels through it. The name Whitney may also be derived from the Anglo-Saxon hwit, meaning white, and ey, meaning water. Before surnames, early landowners of Whitney were Eustace, or Baldwin, or Robert de Whitney--de meaning of. It was often spelled Wytteneye. Over the course of a few centuries, however, the de was dropped and an h was added and the most common spelling became Whitney. The name can be traced back to the year 1086 to one Eustace of Whitney.

The Whitney family has a strong history in England. One Sir Robert Whitney was knighted before Queen Mary after her coronation in 1553. Sir Eustace de Whitney was knighted by Edward I in 1306. Sir Robert Whitney was knight marshal in the court of Richard the II. His son Robert was granted Clifford Castle by Henry IV. And there were two Whitney ancestors who descended from William the Conqueror. Not to mention my 14th great grandfather, Robert Whitney (there were a lot of Roberts!), who was nominated Knight of the Bath by Henry VIII at the coronation of Anne Boleyn in 1531.

That's a lot of cool English history right there. But I'm going to focus on the first Whitney in my family tree to reach America, which was my paternal 10th great grandfather, John Whitney. It's fascinating to me that someone with such strong ties to England and a remarkable lineage decided to make his way to America so long ago.

Surname Saturday - Crain

This week's Surname Saturday post is highlighting the Crain surname from my family tree. According to the House of Names website, "an ancient Scottish tribe called the Boernicians were the ancestors of the first people to use the surname Crain. It is a name for a person whose was tall, and had long legs. This nickname derived from the Old English words cranuc, and cornuc, which mean crane."  They also say that the name, Crain was first found in Suffolk, England, before it made its way to Scotland. I've also read that variants of the name Crain can be found in Ireland.

In my family tree, working my way from me backwards, the first instance of the name Crain is my paternal 2nd great grandmother, Mary Ellen Crain. Mary Ellen was born October 24, 1867 in Illinois.

Mary Ellen Crain was the daughter of John Hatch Crain (1840-1911) and Nancy Jane Simmons (1844-1915). They moved from Illinois to Kansas within a few years of Mary Ellen's birth. 

Mary Ellen married Aaron Bigham in Labette County, Kansas on May 25, 1884. Mary Ellen was just sixteen years old at the time. They had eight children together, including my great grandfather, Turence Stanley Bigham. Mary Ellen (Crain) Bigham died November 25, 1959 in Labette County, Kansas, where she had lived for most of her life. 

So far, I have the Crains traced back to the 18th Century in my tree. There is more than one line of Crains in my tree too, so some connections are a bit tangled or confusing. Crain is also sometimes spelled Crane, so that only adds to the confusion. There are Crains in my tree that reach back to Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. I have lots more research to do on the Crains and Cranes in my family tree! Hopefully I'll get all the roots untangled at some point.

Surname Saturday - Eads

This week's Surname Saturday post puts the spotlight on one of my paternal surnames: Eads. According to the House of Names website, "the surname Eads originally derived from the Old English word Eade which referred to abundant riches. However, another reference claims that the name was derived from the Middle English name Edwy and the Old English word Eadwig which are composed of the elements ead meaning prosperity and wig which meant war." 

Ancestry.com says that the Eads family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920, and that the most Eads families were found in the US in 1880. And in 1840 there were 16 Eads families living in Indiana, which was 20% of all the recorded Eads's in the US.

So far, I've traced my Eads family back to just my 4th great grandfather, William Eads. The earliest documentation for him is a record of his marriage to my 4th great grandmother, Margaret Weaver, in 1842. They were both living in Osage County, Missouri at that time. By 1850, according to the Census, they are living in Jefferson, Osage County, Missouri with three children: William Henry, Elbert, and Martha. On that Census, William's birthplace is listed as Tennessee. I have no trace of William after 1850, other than I know that his daughter, Louisa was born in October of 1852, so he was alive at least that year. His wife, Margaret remarried at some point, because she is living as Margaret Galien on the 1860 Census, along with her children Elbert, Martha, and Louisa.

William and Margaret's son, William Henry Eads was my 3rd great grandfather. 

He was born on July 16, 1845 in Newton County, Missouri. He was a Civil War Veteran and a member of the G.A.R. He would marry Mary Jane Tipton in 1868. After Mary died in 1894, William remarried and eventually settled in Labette County, Kansas, where many of their descendants would live and die. William Henry Eads would also died in Labette County on June 19, 1923 at the age of 77. 

Surname Saturday - Hammersmith

Since today marks what would have been the 57th wedding anniversary of my grandparents, Della Maxine Kephart and William Robert Hammersmith. So I thought it would be the perfect time to celebrate the Hammersmith surname.

The Hammersmith surname was first found at Hammersley in Staffordshire, England. Many Hammersmiths migrated from England in the 18th Century. 

The grandfather of William Robert Hammersmith, Henry L. Hammersmith, was born circa 1870 in New York. His last name was listed as Hammerschmidt on his marriage record. I haven't found a lot of information on him yet, but I do know that his wife, Fannie Clark, was also born in England. I also know that their 2 known children, Edith Lucetta and Robert Henry Hammersmith, were both born in America. Edith was born in Pennsylvania, and Robert (father of William Robert Hammersmith) was born in New Jersey, both born in the 1890's.

The portrait (above) shows my maternal grandmother, Della Maxine Kephart on the day she married my grandfather, William Hammersmith. In this photo you also see my mother, Carolyne (Kephart) Testorff Gould, and my uncle, Robert Geissinger. My grandmother, whom I called Nana, lost her first husband, Robert Samuel Geissinger, in 1959. She married William Robert Hammersmith on May 20th, 1960 in Pennsylvania. 

William Robert Hammersmith wasn't my biological grandfather, but he was every bit my grandpa, whom I called Pappy (or Paps). He was a huge part of my life growing up and he was a funny, strong, loving, hard-working, and selfless man. So it seems appropriate to dedicate this Surname Saturday to him and my Nana, who would have celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary on this day.

Surname Saturday - Bigham

This week's Surname Saturday post is going to feature the Bigham name in my family tree. The Bighams are in my paternal line, which has its most recent beginnings in my tree with my grandmother, Mable Louise Bigham.

Mable was born on September 18, 1921 in Oswego, Labette County, Kansas. Her parents were Turence Stanley Bigham and Eva Loretta (Williams) Bigham. In the photo below, you can see my grandmother with her mother, Eva.

This next photo is of my great grandparents, Turence and Eva Bigham.

Great Grandpa Turence was born on December 20, 1890 in Labette County, Kansas. He would live his whole life in Kansas, until May 16, 1968, when he passed away at the age of 77. Great Grandma Eva passed before him, at age 73, on October 15, 1965, in Oswego.

Turence was the son of Aaron Bigham and Mary Ellen (Crain) Bigham. Aaron was born December 21, 1855 in Washington County, Illinois. Mary Ellen was born October 24, 1867, also in Illinois. My great-great grandparents would have 7 children, 6 who survived. They also would live most of their married lives in Labette County, Kansas. They are pictured in the photo below.

Aaron's father was John Bigham, born in Ohio on July 20, 1828. John's father was James William Bigham, born 1784 somewhere (as yet unknown) in Ireland. He and his wife, Elizabeth (McCreary) Bigham (who was born in Pennsylvania) would live many years in Guernsey County, Ohio, and then Washington County, Illinois.

James Bigham's father was William Bigham, born somewhere in Ireland in 1760. He and his wife, Sarah Barton (also born in Ireland) would have at least five children and and live for many years in Guernsey County, Ohio. They are both buried in Old Washington Cemetery there. That is as far back in my family tree as I have gotten for my Bigham ancestors.

All I really know of the Bigham surname is that it is a Scottish habitational name from a placed called Bigholm(e). The main parts of the name are the Old Norse "big" from "bygg," meaning "barley" or the Old Danish personal byname Bekki, large or stout; plus the Old Danish "holm," a small island or piece of land surrounded by streams. So it's seems likely that somewhere far back in the Bigham line, even though I have much Irish Bigham ancestry, there may be a Scottish Bigham ancestor somewhere that I haven't yet uncovered.

Hopefully one day I'll dig up those Scottish Bigham roots.

Surname Saturday - Sutton

Another very important surname in my family tree is Sutton, so I thought that I'd spotlight this name for this week's Surname Saturday post.

The name Sutton originates from the Anglo-Saxon words 'sudh,' meaning 'south,' and 'tun,' meaning 'town.' This equates to 'the family of southtown.' The name seems to have its roots in England and Ireland. 

For my family line, the most distant confirmed Sutton ancestor was John C Sutton, my 5th great grandfather. The earliest records for John C Sutton enumerate him on the 1820 Census in Randolph, Dearborn County, Indiana, along with a spouse, 6 sons, and 2 daughters. There is also a Joseph Sutton on that same Census, possibly a brother of John. It is believed that John was born in Pennsylvania, circa 1760-1770.

There is an oral family tradition that John C. Sutton's family left Pennsylvania using a flat boat and floated down river from (or through) Pittsburg. Although some people in the family questioned this as a physical possibility, research has confirmed that many families moved to Ohio and Indiana in this manner.

By the 1830 Census, John and his family are living in Switzerland County, Indiana. Switzerland, Ohio, Dearborn, and Ripley counties come together at just about the spot where John C. Sutton and his family lived. 

Per the "Switzerland Co., Indiana Marriages" (Scheur Publications, Warsaw, Indiana, 1994), at least 7 of John C Sutton's 8 children were married in Switzerland county between 1820-1836. This would include my 4th great grandfather, John D Sutton, who married Susannah "Susan" Dodge on 04 January 1827. 

It is unknown as of yet to whom John C Sutton married, the mother of his children. There is lots of speculation among Sutton family researchers, but her identity remains a mystery at this time. And we really don't know much about John C either for that matter. 

More is known about my 4th great grandparents, John D and Susannah (Dodge) Sutton, who would also have 8 children. You can see these ancestors in the photos below, circa 1860.

John D and Susannah's daughter, Jerusha Harmon Sutton, was my 3rd great grandmother. This family lived at various times in Switzerland and Ripley counties in Indiana, Rock Island County in Illinois, and Hardin county in Iowa. John D and Susannah would also later live in Vernon County, Missouri.

The big mystery of John D Sutton is when and where he died. Family researchers are still on the hunt for definitive proof of his death. His wife's death was also somewhat of a mystery, until I discovered two small obituaries for her a year or so ago; one in the Cape Girardeau Democrat and one in the Kansas City Star from September, 1893. These showed that Susannah died in Vernon County, MO. Hopefully one day we'll discover John D's obituary too.

And the hunt for my Sutton family ancestors continues.

Surname Saturday - Testorff

My maiden name is Testorff, so this is the perfect name to feature for this week's Surname Saturday. The downside is that I can't really share any cool tidbits about that particular surname's meaning, because I am having trouble finding anything! But here's what I do know about my Testorff roots...

My 3rd great grandfather, Christian Tesdorf, was born on November 2, 1819 in Germany. He married his wife, Sophia in 1852. In October of 1872, Christian, Sophia, and 3 of their children, Carl, Ludwig. and Emilie, departed from Hamburg, Germany (via Le Havre, France) aboard the Holsatia and arrived in New York on November 7, 1872. They would settle in Leroy, Bremer County, Iowa and are enumerated there in the 1880 Census.

Louis August Ludwig Testorff was my 2nd great grandfather. Though he and his parents and siblings are listed in the Hamburg Passenger Lists with 'Tesdorf' as their surname, their surname was also seen at various times as Tessdorff, Tessdorf, and also Testorff. 

Christian and Sophia both died in Bremer County, Iowa (in 1900 and 1894, respectively). My 2nd great grandfather, Louis (aka Ludwig) would marry his wife, Anna Meyer in Bremer County, and eight children there. Later, they moved to Labette County, Kansas, and then finally settled in Kansas City, Missouri, where they would live until their deaths.

So all I really know so far about my Testorff surname is that I have traced it back to my 3rd great grandfather, Christian, in Germany. I haven't gotten farther back than him in my Testorff line since German ancestry is a bit confusing. But hopefully one day I'll find even more Testorff/Tesdorf/Tessdorff origins in Germany, because I'd sure love to find out more about that part of my heritage.

Surname Saturday - Templeton

Another important surname in my family tree is Templeton. So I am featuring that line in my tree for this week's Surname Saturday post.

The nearest Templeton ancestor that I have in my tree is my great, great grandmother, Susan Eleanor Templeton, who married my great, great grandfather, Alexis Elihu Kephart. I've mentioned both of these ancestors before, including the recent Surname Saturday - Kephart post that I did.

According to the Surname Database, which follows along with Ancestry's surname info, the Templeton surname is primarily Scottish, and it appears in Scotland before the time of Robert the Bruce. They also note that, "The origination is from the village of Templeton in Ayrshire, and it is in the counties of Ayr and Lanark that the name is most predominantly recorded. The derivation of the name is from the pre 7th century Olde English 'templ' referring to a pre-Christian place of worship, plus 'tun', a village or homestead."

My mom traced our Templeton lineage to one Andrew Templeton, born 07 August in 1786 in New Hampshire. But that's as far as she, or I for that matter, have gotten with our Templeton line. The problem is that there is more than one Andrew Templeton from that same area and time period. So there's lots of conflicting information and confusion, particularly since they all seem to have lived in New York at some point and had children there. So it gets a little sketchy.

Fast forward a bit to the birth of my 3rd great grandfather, Isaac Hollister Templeton, born 02 August 1830 in Middle Granville, New York. His story is intriguing. Family tradition says that he was born as John Dexter Templeton, but that his father died before his birth and his mother was unable to care for him--having 7 children already--and thus he was given to close family friend, Isaac Hollister (born 1796 in Glastonbury, CT) to raise. So John Dexter was given the name of Isaac and was raised in the Hollister family. Isaac/John Dexter is enumerated with the Hollister family in 1850 in Rock Island County, Illinois.

When my Isaac reached manhood though, he took back his Templeton surname and thus became Isaac Hollister Templeton. Isaac would later marry my 3rd great grandmother, Jerusha Harmon Sutton and they would have at least five children. One of their children was given Isaac's original birth name, John Dexter. And another was given the name of Isaac's adoptive brothers from the Hollister family, Edwin Hall.

Isaac Hollister Templeton & Jerusha Harmon (Sutton) Templeton

My mom's research indicates that the death of Isaac's father, Andrew has not yet been documented. I'm still looking for that information, as it may provide us with more details about Isaac and his adoption by the Hollister family. 

A family story describes Isaac as "a tall, thin man, looking much like Abe Lincoln, and had an abrupt way of speaking. When the weather was cool, he always wore a long, black overcoat. He never buttoned it though - just pushed it back and walked with his hands in the pockets."

My mother noted that during the winter of 1913-1914, Isaac had a stroke and was completely paralyzed. He died in April, 1914, four months before his eighty-fourth birthday. Isaac was borne to Cardwell Chapel Cemetery on a spring wagon drawn by a pair of matched grey horses.

I have much more research to do on this ancestor. Such interesting tidbits that need to be further explored! And I hope to eventually find many more Templeton ancestors to fill my family tree.

Surname Saturday - Kephart

For this week's Surname Saturday post I'd like to share an important surname in my family tree: Kephart. Kephart is the Americanized spelling of the German Gebhardt. According to various sources, the surname Kephart was first found in Silesia, where this family name dates back to at least the 9th century. The name is derived from the Old High German elements "geb," which means "gift" and "hard," meaning "brave, hardy." I rather like the sound of that.

So far, in my family tree, I have gotten the Kephart line back to around 1750 in Maryland, where my 5th great grandfather, Simon Kephart was born and lived. I believe he died there too, but I haven't found the exact date information yet. That is about as far back as my mother got in her research as well (she was a genealogist too). We know that he died before January of 1801 though, because his 2nd wife, Susannah (my 5th great grandmother) died then during childbirth and was listed as a widow in her death notice. So Simon had to have died fairly near to the time of his wife's death.

Now I know the original line goes back to Germany somewhere, and I will get there eventually. But my Kephart family line from Simon went from Maryland, to Ohio, with my 4th great grandfather, George Kephart. George had two children born in Maryland (including my 3rd great grandfather, Ormand, and his sister, Susan), and one child born in Allen County, Ohio (my 3rd great Uncle, Peter Kephart). 

I have many Kephart ancestors that were born and lived and died in Ohio--particularly in Allen County, most of them in or near Spencerville and Amanda Township. Ormand died quite young in 1856 at the age of  36 in Spencerville. He had four children in Spencerville before his death, including Catharine, George, and Oscar, and my 2nd great grandfather, Alexis Elihu Kephart; and one child, Ormand, who was born six months after his father's death.

What I love about the Allen County Kephart connection is that I live only an hour from there. When I moved to Ohio in 1987--where my husband grew up--I had no idea of my ancestral connection, because I wasn't yet doing genealogy. So to discover this later was kind of awesome to me. It actually turns out that I have ancestors from my maternal and paternal sides of my tree that lived and/or died in Allen County, Ohio!

My grandfather, Alexis married his bride, Susan Eleanor Templeton in her home state of Illinois in 1877. They lived in Spencerville, Ohio for awhile, then would eventually move to Kansas, then Iowa, before finally settling in Lincoln County, Oklahoma. They had five children, including my great grandfather, John Arthur Kephart, and his brothers Edgar and Byron, and his two sisters, Anna Carrie, and Rusha.  The photo below is of this Kephart family.

My mother was born a Kephart, her mother's maiden name, because my grandmother, Della Kephart, was unmarried at the time that my mother was born. I spent a lot of time around Kephart uncles, aunts, and cousins when I was growing up in California. A lot of the children of John Arthur ended up in California. So literally, our Kephart line ended up migrating across the entire country over time. 

I still have much digging to do into the Kephart family line. I have always felt very connected to this part of my family, so I love digging into my Kephart roots. I really enjoy learning anything new that I can about this branch of my family tree.

Surname Saturday - Swinford

For my first Surname Saturday post I'd like to share the Swinford surname from my family tree. According to the Ancestry website, the Swinford surname has the following origins.

English: habitational name from places called Swinford in Oxfordshire and Leicestershire, from Kingswinford in Staffordshire, or from Old Swinford in Worcestershire, named with Old English swin ‘swine’, ‘hog’ + ford ‘ford’.

The Swinford line of my family, we believe, goes back to England. I haven't yet documented the origin source as of yet. Still on the hunt. My early Swinford ancestors in America though migrated from South Carolina, to Tennesse, to Missouri, to Oklahoma. My closest male ancestor with the Swinford surname was Jonathan J. Swinford, born 26 JUNE 1852 in McMinn County, Tennessee. His daughter, Della Mae Swinford was my maternal great grandmother. She was born 13 MAY 1888 in Vandalia, Audrain, Missouri. They are both buried in Wellston, Oklahoma, in Wellston Cemetery. Jonathan's father, my 3x great grandfather, was James Swinford, who was born in 1830 in McNairy County, Tennessee. James died in 1863 as a prisoner of war in Alton Military Prison in Alton, Illinois.

So that is a little history of my family tree's Swinford line and origins. Below is a photo of my great grandmother, Della Mae (Swinford) Kephart.