Here are a few more examples:
Margaret (nee PROU), widow of Mark RYMER of Richmond County (d.
1716/17), became the concubine of Rev. John PRINCE, minister of Hanover
Parish, King George County. In his will, 1726, Rev. Prince, leaves all
his estate to Margarit RIMER and to her children Thomasin PRINCE and
John PRINCE. [George H. S. King, Marriages of Richmond County, Virginia
(King, 1964), 176; George H. S. King, King George County Virginia Will
Book A-1 (King, 1978), 39-40] In later records, such as a 1752 deed,
John PRINCE (the son) is sometimes identified as "John PRINCE otherwise
called John RIMER." [Ruth and Sam Sparacio, Deed Abstracts of King
George County, Virginia, 1735-1752 (McLean, Va.: Sparacio, 1987), 129]
Theoderick WEBB left a will in Franklin County, ca. 1793, in which he
named his wife Elizabeth (formerly FITZGERALD) and her sons Theoderick
FITZGERALD and Jacob William Webb FITZGERALD. The testator is believed
to have sired those boys out of wedlock. In later tax and court records
the sons alternated using the surnames FITZGERALD and WEBB. One
eventually became known as Theoderick F. WEBB and the other as Jacob
WEBB. [This is from memory. I do not have ready access to my notes.]
John LEE of Prince William County (died testate 1848) was unmarried and
left most of his property to the children of Mary CLARK, a neighbor with
no apparent husband who gave birth to eight children between 1814 and
1832. Her children were all named CLARK, but at least one tax list
seems to show that her son Thomas was called LEE when living with his
father, said John LEE. An article shows the evidence for the
relationship. [Martha C. Lang, "John Lee of 'Willow Green': Who Were
His Children?" in Prince William Reliquary, v. 7, no. 4 (Oct. 2008),
77-86; online at
http://www.pwcgov.org/library/relic/PDF/reliquary/PWR_4-2008.pdf]
Later examples in Indiana imply that giving the child the father's name
had lost its stigma:
Elizabeth DAVIS had a son named George W. GODWIN, born ca. 1846 in
Madison County, Indiana, who died in the Civil War. Elizabeth married
Samuel BROWN in 1848. Later, as a widow, she applied for a pension
based on her son George's service. George was the namesake, and
probable son, of an earlier George W. GODWIN who lived in the
neighborhood.
William Madison O'NEILL was born in Starke County, Indiana, 1863, the
son of Nancy HENDRICKS, unmarried. He was reputedly the son of James B.
ONEILL of Pulaski County (who appears to have been married to someone
else at the time). The family Bible record of his birth has his name
circled, but uses the father's surname. [personal correspondence]
Donald L. Wilson, Virginiana Librarian,
Ruth E. Lloyd Information Center
for Genealogy and Local History (RELIC),
Prince William Public Library System,
Bull Run Regional Library,
8051 Ashton Avenue, Manassas, VA 20110-2892
703-792-4540 www.pwcgov.org/library/relic
-----Original Message-----
Date: Sat, 14 May 2011 13:20:16 -0400
From: "Carole D. Bryant" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: surname of illegitimate child ?
In the early 1800s, what seems to have been the policy or practice of
naming an illegitimate child? Would he or she take his natural father's
surname or that of his mother? If this policy or practice reversed at
some point in time, approximately when did the change occur?
Thanks for the help !
Carole
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