[APG Public List] Jr and Sr

[Donna McR]

JFonkert wrote:

>>>My understanding is that Jr and Sr are not even necessarily son and 
>>>father.
>>>If there were two men of the same name in a locale, one might be known
>>> as Sr. and one as Jr. based on their ages.  They might be cousins
>>>or something else.


Yes, that was seen in some times and places.  It was one way to distinguish 
between men of the same name.  The uncle might become Sr., while the nephew 
becomes Jr.   This might be for the purpose of record-keeping and not 
necessarily how the men were known among the family or socially.  It might 
just be something devised by a courthouse clerk to provide clarity to a 
potentially confusing record.

In the same way, the clerk might arbitrarily throw in an addition to the 
name such as a place name.  If three men are named John Smith, the clerk 
might call one of them John Clark Smith--meaning he was the John Smith who 
lived in the town named Clark.  Another might, just in the records, be 
called John Edward Smith, if his father was named Edward.  The third, if he 
were the eldest, might be called John Smith, John Smith Sr., or something 
with a descriptive middle name.  Sometimes, for purposes of clarity, clerks 
or tax enumerators played fast and loose with names.

Warmest Regards,

Donna