<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3603" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Thank you, Tom.  So many possibilities.  I have a theory (little more) for the parents of my man.  If I am correct, the "C." could stand for Craig, the maiden surname of the mother.  However, I have only circumstantial evidence at this point.  I have found various records from Kentucky, Indiana and Virginia that consistently show the "C" middle initial, but nothing to suggest what it might have stood for.  I will receive copies of some court records in the next few days that might possibly give further hints to the man's family relationships.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Jay F.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In a message dated 8/27/2009 5:56:48 P.M. Central Daylight Time, Tom@JonesResearchServices.com writes:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>This is a question that may be more likely answered the other way around --- when a likely eponym is discovered, you'll have evidence for deducing the middle name, rather than being able to use it to discover kinship ties. Born about 1777 and in Kentucky by 1795, this man was likely a Virginian. I've seen relatively few middle names and initials, especially for men, in the time and place. Nearly all are namesakes. For most colonial Virginians the eponym was just about as likely to be a prominent neighbor or official as a relative. <BR><BR>Does your man have a Germanic surname? Virginians born into families connected to German-speaking Europe might be more likely to have a middle name than most Virginians, but theirs could be the name of a saint, relative, godparent, or all three. In a few cases a middle initial may signify the father's or mother's surname, if the man was illegitimate or for some other reason experienced ambiguity about his surname. I've also seen rare instances where a middle initial abbreviated the first part of a complicated surname ---- John S. Barger for John Shufflebarger. If your man was born a few decades later with the first name of John, and depending on the parents' religion, the middle initial C might have stood for Calvin. In any case, a middle initial that does not abbreviate a name would be highly unusual in eighteenth-century Virginia. ---- Tom <BR><BR><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE cite=mid:8CBF5575C8F1D7D-2018-C1FA@webmail-d051.sysops.aol.com type="cite"> <DIV id=AOLMsgPart_2_fb32338f-1216-44a9-b3f9-8bfef81940bb><BR><A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated title=mailto:jfonkert@aol.com href="mailto:jfonkert@aol.com" moz-do-not-send="true">jfonkert@aol.com</A> wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"> <DIV>Good morning to all.  I am working on a man who lived in Kentucky from about 1795-1825, probably born about 1777.  Throughout this Kentucky period, he was consistently known with the middle initial "C."   A full middle name is never spelled out.  Can anyone tell me, is it likely that "C." stood for a middle given name?  Or might it have just been an initial?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>  <DIV><FONT lang=2 face=Arial size=2>Jay Fonkert, CG<BR></FONT></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><PRE wrap=""><HR width="90%" SIZE=4> _______________________________________________ APG Public Mailing List <A class=moz-txt-link-freetext title=http://apgen.org/publications/publiclist/ href="http://apgen.org/publications/publiclist/">http://apgen.org/publications/publiclist/</A> </PRE></BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT lang=2 face=Arial size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10">Jay Fonkert, CG<BR><A href="http://fourgenerationsgenealogy.blogspot.com/">http://fourgenerationsgenealogy.blogspot.com/</A><BR>Saint Paul, MN<BR><BR>Member, Association of Professional Genealogists<BR>(</FONT><FONT lang=2 face=Arial color=#000000 size=1 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="8">professional profile at <A href="http://www.apgen.org)/">www.apgen.org)</A></FONT><FONT lang=2 face=Arial color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"><BR>Member, Genealogical Speakers Guild<BR></FONT><FONT lang=2 face=Arial color=#000000 size=1 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="8">(professional profile at <A href="http://www.genealogicalspeakersguild.org/)">http://www.genealogicalspeakersguild.org/)</A></FONT><FONT lang=2 face=Arial color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"> <BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=2 face=Arial color=#000000 size=1 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="8">CG (Certified Genealogist) is a service mark of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used under license by Board-certified associates after periodic competency evaluations.</FONT><FONT lang=2 face=Arial color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"><BR></FONT></DIV></FONT><DIV CLASS="aol_ad_footer" ID="999b58a7f791cd464921babbb21f83ce"><br/><font style="color:black;font:normal 10pt arial,san-serif;"> <hr style="margin-top:10px"/></font></DIV></BODY></HTML>