Catechumens from Trinity Reformed Church near Stouchsburg, Pennsylvania
A top source for middle names is the series of Draft Registration Cards held by NARA available from Ancestry and others, for men in 1917 and 1918 for World War I. Even so, it is not my favorite source, as there are no women in the series.
Church records on the other hand, yield records for men, women, boys and girls. Confirmation or catechumen records especially in churches with a German background, have wonderful lists of names and usually differentiate between children being confirmed and adults being confirmed or transferring membership. As a rule of thumb, children in the confirmation class are around 12 or 13 years old. More importantly, those middle names have a tremendous chance of being a surname of someone important, a mother, uncle, aunt, godparent and the given names may be family names or godparents’ names.
Reading Eagle 20 May 1885
The transcribed list of catechumens from the 1885 Reading Eagle article above:
- Charles Henry Spangler
- Thomas Francis Killmer
- Henry Irwin Klopp
- Harry Lowel Fisher
- Thos. Aug. Shoemaker
- Warren Daniel Peiffer
- Tyrus Percival Killmer
- Calvin Wilson Seibert
- Alpheaus Snyder Killmer
- Henry Milton Smaltz
- Morris Henry Leiter
- Franklin Calvin Bucks
- Charles Groh Klopp
- Charles Abraham Ritter
- George Jonathan Klopp
- Wm. Franklin Steiner
- Franklin Harnish
- William Henry Sherman
- Charles Monroe Fink
- William A. Rauch
- Calvin Samuel Leitner
- Nathan Henry Kelchner
- John Jacob Shiffler
- Franklin Forry
- Robert Joseph Snyder
- William Garloff
- David Noll
- Maria Harnish
- Lizzie Seibert Shaak
- Mary Ellen Bleichert
- Kate Rebecca Spangler
- Mary Isabella Wagner
- Emma Susan Peiffer
- Annie Mary Bleichert
- Lucy A. Loos
Five catechumens do not have middle names or initials. While not proof positive, it is a good indicator those children were not given middle names or they are the adult members of the class. The name Calvin appears disproportionately as does Franklin. Franklin is not inexplicable, Berks County is near Philadelphia and Benjamin Franklin had many namesakes in the area. It would be interesting to see which adults in the congregation were named Calvin.
