Given Name Clusters Can Be Heritage Clues

Name Clusters and Namesakes

Given names patterns can lead researchers both backward and forward. Check all grandchildren and grandparents for naming clues and possibly great-grandchildren and great-grandparents. Name clusters offer heritage traces, just as namesakes do. If you are lucky, the family always includes a Harmon or Rebecca in their given name or middle name selections. I have one with multiples of Annis, Harvey, Jonathan, Julia, Lavinia, Leander, and Mariamna with a Stanton or two thrown in for good luck.

Edward King and Elizabeth (Nichols) King had ten children; William King, Thomas King, John King, Isaac King, James King, Samuel King, Elizabeth Nichols (King) Dinsmore, David King and Margaret and Sarah King. The last two died young, Margaret aka Peggie and Sarah aka Sallie, without marrying and without children.

Edward and Elizabeth had sixty-six known grandchildren; nine from their son William, eight from Thomas, ten from John, seven from Isaac, seven from James, two from Samuel, nine from Elizabeth and fourteen from David. There may have been more, perhaps infants or children that died young. This is an alphabetical list of the grandchildren by their first name with their King parent to the right. Maiden names are in paranthesis ( ) followed by married surnames.

This next wordle shows the distribution of first names for the three hundred seventy (370) great-grandchildren of Edward and Elizabeth (Nichols) King. Nine great-grandchildren were the result of three different cousin marriages, so they are only counted once.

Samuel King’s family was very small, two children, Hannah and Samuel T. Samuel T., the son, might be Samuel Torbett King, but I have no evidence other than the name Torbett P. King, son of Joseph Marshall King, grandson of Samuel T. King, great-grandson of Samuel King and his wife Susan (Torbett) King. At the same time, Samuel T. King’s youngest child was Anna Thomas King, called Tommie, which could lead one to consider Samuel King named his son, Samuel Thomas King after his brother Thomas, and thus Anna Thomas King was named for her father and great-uncle. I am on the lookout for Samuel T. King’s middle name and have two good suspects, Torbett after his mother’s family and or Thomas after his paternal uncle. I think it’s probable Samuel King and Susan (Torbett) King had more than two children, but doubt they survived childhood. Elisha Sterling Price King’s manuscript from notes by Ellen (King) Berry, has been fairly accurate and it lists two children.

An alphabetical list of three hundred seventy (370) known great-grandchildren of Edward and Elizabeth (Nichols) King follows: 

A wordle including first, middle and last names, predominated of course by the surname King:

Three hundred seventy great-grandchildren have been identified descending from forty-eight grandchildren. The names are a bit harder to quantify. Ellen, Eleanor, Elinor, Elleanor, all vie for position as first and middle names apparently from their namesake, Thomas King’s daughter Ellen. The same issues arise with the names Emily, Emmeline, Emma, and Emeline. Matilda (King) Walker, either the wife of Elijah Walker or George Hilton Walker (or possibly both of them), certainly had children, but it is unclear which children were hers and which were descended from other wives. Matilda was one of Isaac King’s daughters, and her line is not yet attributed. The same goes for the children and grandchildren of Margaret (King) Berry, the daughter of William King.

.