What's In a Name?
The writing prompt for week 6 (Hooray! I'm caught up!) is "Favorite Name". Favorite name? Do you know how completely impossible that seems for someone who does family history research?
To begin with, these folks on my tree are more than names. The more you learn about them and the places and time that they lived in, the more you begin to feel like you actually know them, somehow. So how do you choose between "favorites", when they all have such interesting stories? Like my great-great grandfather with the perfectly ordinary name of George Rogers, but who was the son of William, who was the son of George, who was the son of William, who was the son of George? Or folks with unusual surnames, that left you wondering how their families came to be named Looney, Cross, Smelley, or Hart? On my husband's tree there are names like Dukes, Doom, Craft and Royall. There are place names like Houston and London ... so many to choose from, and all favorites in their own way.
Some folks were even named after other people, usually famous people, and I'm left wondering what it might mean about the names that were chosen. What traits did the parents admire in these folks that caused their children to be named after them? Sometimes we can guess, but it's usually only a guess.
I think for the sheer grandeur of a moniker given to child, the award might have to go to the child of William and Eliza Thomas. When their second son was born on August 8, 1848, they gave the child an enormous name to live up to. They named the child Solomon VanBuren Thomas. The name Solomon itself conjures up images of wisdom and wealth and power and influence. Giving your children Bible names was common in those days, and several of William and Eliza's later children were also given Bible names, including Matthew, Sarah and Mary.
Also interesting is their choice of a middle name. It is reasonable to assume that it was in honor of former President Martin Van Buren, whose presidential term had ended in 1841. Van Buren had been a statesman for years, and held a number of positions in government throughout the years, including Attorney General of New York, Senator, Governor of New York, Secretary of State, Vice President and President. What a reputation for this child to live up to ... a man that was a leader not only in his home and community, but also one who was known far and wide. And that was not William & Eliza's only child with a "famous" name. Their oldest son had a middle name of Lafayette, and their third son was named Madison. If nothing else, these parents seemed to have been well informed of their nation's history.
Solomon was born in Fayette County, Alabama (also named for Lafayette) in 1848. He is found in the 1850 and 1860 census at age 1 and age 11, respectively. Sometime in the early to mid 1860's the family moved to Mississippi. There was a William C Thomas that served in the Confederate Army with the 16th Alabama Infantry, and it is possible that this was Solomon's father, although that has yet to be confirmed. There was a time gap between Solomon's sister Malinda, born in 1859, and his sister Eliza, born in 1863, which could be attributed to a soldier being away at war. It could also be that there were just no births during that time period, or that children were born and didn't survive. Whatever the reason, the family moved to Mississippi between the birth of Eliza in Alabama in 1863, and the marriage of Solomon to Miss Bettie Elizabeth Alexander on January 28, 1868.
Sometime shortly after his marriage, the family moved again, because Solomon and Bettie's oldest son, William Pryor Thomas was born in December of 1868 in Arkansas. They lived and worked in Arkansas for seven years, and then pulled up stakes again between April of 1875 and June of 1877. This time, they settled in Texas. They were in Texas for quite some time, and their family had grown. The 1900 Census shows that Bettie had borne 12 children, 10 of whom were still living.
In 1905, Solomon decided to move again, and his sights were set on Oklahoma. This was about the same time frame that the Indian Nations were trying to form their own state in that area, and there were plans in the works that, if the Indian petition fell through, that the Oklahoma Territories would would work together toward Statehood. The Indian's petition was turned down by then-President Theodore Roosevelt, but Oklahoma was accepted as a new state in the United States in 1907. In the interim, Solomon settled his family in a little valley near Duncan, Oklahoma.
Their farm was 160 acres, which had the ability to bring them great abundance, or great difficulties. A news article written about the couple in 1921 said,
This was the life of a farmer. It was the way things had always been for Solomon's family. Good years came and went. Hard years came and sometimes seemed to stay. They worked on, and helped out wherever they could. They raised their children. Three times they were also needed to help rear their grandchildren, leading the newspaper to say about them,
Solomon lived at least 60 years of his life as a Methodist, taking part in many of the congregation's activities, and taking many roles in the leadership of the congregation. In 1921, the family's fortunes suddenly changed ... and changed dramatically. For in February 1921, oil was discovered on their farm. When the test well was drilled, a hired hand was out cutting corn stalks.
Before dawn on Monday, they were after him again. He leased out the land, and in so doing managed to provide his wife and himself with security and comfort in their old age. The photo shows what the property looked like after the oil discovery. It was posted on the OKGenWeb site by Richard Thomas.
Bettie, Solomon's wife of 55 years, died in 1923, two years after their fortunes so suddenly changed. Solomon lived another 10 years after her death, finally passing away in 1933 at the age if 85. He had been ill for several months following a stroke. His death certificate lists him as a "farmer and oil man". The announcement of his death in the paper said that he was "known to his intimates as 'Uncle Van'."
So did the child given such a formidable name live up to its reputation(s)? I'll leave that to you to decide. I can only conclude that his life, though ordinary at times, showed many examples of leadership and ingenuity, faith and determination. And that's worth remembering.
To begin with, these folks on my tree are more than names. The more you learn about them and the places and time that they lived in, the more you begin to feel like you actually know them, somehow. So how do you choose between "favorites", when they all have such interesting stories? Like my great-great grandfather with the perfectly ordinary name of George Rogers, but who was the son of William, who was the son of George, who was the son of William, who was the son of George? Or folks with unusual surnames, that left you wondering how their families came to be named Looney, Cross, Smelley, or Hart? On my husband's tree there are names like Dukes, Doom, Craft and Royall. There are place names like Houston and London ... so many to choose from, and all favorites in their own way.
Some folks were even named after other people, usually famous people, and I'm left wondering what it might mean about the names that were chosen. What traits did the parents admire in these folks that caused their children to be named after them? Sometimes we can guess, but it's usually only a guess.
I think for the sheer grandeur of a moniker given to child, the award might have to go to the child of William and Eliza Thomas. When their second son was born on August 8, 1848, they gave the child an enormous name to live up to. They named the child Solomon VanBuren Thomas. The name Solomon itself conjures up images of wisdom and wealth and power and influence. Giving your children Bible names was common in those days, and several of William and Eliza's later children were also given Bible names, including Matthew, Sarah and Mary.
Also interesting is their choice of a middle name. It is reasonable to assume that it was in honor of former President Martin Van Buren, whose presidential term had ended in 1841. Van Buren had been a statesman for years, and held a number of positions in government throughout the years, including Attorney General of New York, Senator, Governor of New York, Secretary of State, Vice President and President. What a reputation for this child to live up to ... a man that was a leader not only in his home and community, but also one who was known far and wide. And that was not William & Eliza's only child with a "famous" name. Their oldest son had a middle name of Lafayette, and their third son was named Madison. If nothing else, these parents seemed to have been well informed of their nation's history.
Solomon was born in Fayette County, Alabama (also named for Lafayette) in 1848. He is found in the 1850 and 1860 census at age 1 and age 11, respectively. Sometime in the early to mid 1860's the family moved to Mississippi. There was a William C Thomas that served in the Confederate Army with the 16th Alabama Infantry, and it is possible that this was Solomon's father, although that has yet to be confirmed. There was a time gap between Solomon's sister Malinda, born in 1859, and his sister Eliza, born in 1863, which could be attributed to a soldier being away at war. It could also be that there were just no births during that time period, or that children were born and didn't survive. Whatever the reason, the family moved to Mississippi between the birth of Eliza in Alabama in 1863, and the marriage of Solomon to Miss Bettie Elizabeth Alexander on January 28, 1868.
In 1905, Solomon decided to move again, and his sights were set on Oklahoma. This was about the same time frame that the Indian Nations were trying to form their own state in that area, and there were plans in the works that, if the Indian petition fell through, that the Oklahoma Territories would would work together toward Statehood. The Indian's petition was turned down by then-President Theodore Roosevelt, but Oklahoma was accepted as a new state in the United States in 1907. In the interim, Solomon settled his family in a little valley near Duncan, Oklahoma.
Their farm was 160 acres, which had the ability to bring them great abundance, or great difficulties. A news article written about the couple in 1921 said,
"Thomas, now 75 years old, while his wife has passed the 70 mark,
has for 15 years cultivated the little valley farm of 160 acres.
It has been a hard struggle to make ends meet, for there have been
years when Little Beaver [Creek] overflowed his crops. There have been other
years, like 1920, when the bottom fell out of the price of farm products."
This was the life of a farmer. It was the way things had always been for Solomon's family. Good years came and went. Hard years came and sometimes seemed to stay. They worked on, and helped out wherever they could. They raised their children. Three times they were also needed to help rear their grandchildren, leading the newspaper to say about them,
" ... the little farm home has been a sort of orphanage for years."
Solomon lived at least 60 years of his life as a Methodist, taking part in many of the congregation's activities, and taking many roles in the leadership of the congregation. In 1921, the family's fortunes suddenly changed ... and changed dramatically. For in February 1921, oil was discovered on their farm. When the test well was drilled, a hired hand was out cutting corn stalks.
"When the gusher blew in it showered oil for several hundred feet
in all directions, giving the stalks a devastated appearance ...
When the well blew in, Thomas had forty acre[s] of his farm which
had not been leased. He was besieged all day Sunday by representatives
of oil Co. He was offered as high as 12,000 an acre for this forty ...
To all he gave the same answer: "I am transacting no business on
Sunday. You will have to see me on week days. The Sabbath was intended
for worship of God. I will not commercialize it." And the lease hounds
were forced to wait."
Before dawn on Monday, they were after him again. He leased out the land, and in so doing managed to provide his wife and himself with security and comfort in their old age. The photo shows what the property looked like after the oil discovery. It was posted on the OKGenWeb site by Richard Thomas.
Bettie, Solomon's wife of 55 years, died in 1923, two years after their fortunes so suddenly changed. Solomon lived another 10 years after her death, finally passing away in 1933 at the age if 85. He had been ill for several months following a stroke. His death certificate lists him as a "farmer and oil man". The announcement of his death in the paper said that he was "known to his intimates as 'Uncle Van'."
So did the child given such a formidable name live up to its reputation(s)? I'll leave that to you to decide. I can only conclude that his life, though ordinary at times, showed many examples of leadership and ingenuity, faith and determination. And that's worth remembering.
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