In an earlier message Bill McMahon wrote:

> My ancestor, William Friend McMahon, Sr. was born in Frederick Co Va
> in 1749.  His Father and Grandfather were of Scot ancestory.  This
> leads me to wonder if he adopted his middle name (Friend) later in
> life.  He m 1774 Nancy Ann Co x who who had an Uncle named Friend
> Cox. They spent the latter part of their lives in Ohio County, VA
> (Wellsburg).

> Is it reasonable to suppose that he might have added the middle name
> Friend to his name as a tribute to his wife's Uncle?  I have looked
> through the McMahon family names extensively and found no source for
> the name Friend.  However, his wife 's Cox family used the name
> Friend extensively as a given name and a surname.  (These Coxes and
> Friends were Swedes.)  William, his father Richard and his wife's
> family were all very active participants in the American Revolution
> and it might be possible he added the middle name as an act of
> defiance to the Engli sh law?

> Thoughts anyone?  Or am I "whistling in the wind"?

It is perhaps more likely that William Friend McMahon was also a
Friend descendant, although if he adopted the name after the
Revolution he may have been honoring someone (was his wife's uncle a
patriot of note?). I doubt that he would have been defying English
law, as the law against two forenames was rarely enforced even in
England.

Just a side note: Nancy Ann is almost certainly a confusion of a name
and a nickname. She was probably christened Ann and called Nancy. The
use of the name Nancy alone (as a baptismal name) dates considerably
later than your relative.

Kathleen Much
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