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 To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html ------------------------------ End of VA-ROOTS Digest - 13 May 2011 to 15 May 2011 (#2011-72) ************************************************************** To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html