Another Name in Question: Terrell or Terrel Bryan

After my last post, I reviewed my information for Terrell Bryan, my great-grandfather.  His wife had spelled his name with one "l" and all these years, I had been spelling it with two. So, how should I spell his name in my family tree? 

Here is what I found:

Spelled as Terrel

• Harriet wrote her husband's name as Terrel when signing the "Partition of Slaves," a portion of Reddick Bryan's estate record. 
• At age 14, his name is recorded as Terrel on the 1850 census.
• His name is written as Terrel Bryant on the 1900 census. Note the "t" added to his last name. 
• On pages 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 15, and 18, his name was written as Terrel on his Confederate Military Service record. It is written as Terrell on other pages and sometimes just "T. Bryan."
• On a monument to the Castor Guards (his military unit) in Bienville Parish, his name is written as Terrel. 
• His name is written as Terrel Bryant in a 1862 land sale in Bienville Parish. His wife's name is written as Harriett. 
• Terrel Bryan and Terrel Bryant purchased public lands in Louisiana in 1860. 

Spelled as Terrell

• His name is spelled as Terrell his death certificate, funeral notice, headstone, and obituary.  
• His name is spelled as Terrell in his family bible.
• A 1950 transcription of his parent's family bible spells his name as Terrell. 
• Terrell is the spelling of his name on his marriage record to Harriet Albritton in 1855. 
• On pages 3, 6, 16, 17, and 19, his name was written as Terrell on his Confederate Military Service record.
• He wrote letters to the editors of Stephenville, Texas newspapers in 1894 and in 1905.  His name is written as Terrell Bryan. 
• Found in Erath County Court Records (1883) - Terrell Bryan's contract as the Lessee of the Poor Farm was extended for another year. 
• Span Regan of Georgia, Terrell's half-brother and another person with name spelling issues, appointed "Terrell Bryan" as his "attorney in fact" to handle his affairs in Louisiana in 1867. 
• "Terrell Bryan" was written on a certificate from Stephenville Masonic Lodge #267 dated December 18, 1896.

My conclusion is that Harriet misspelled Terrell's name and that his name should be written as Terrell. With the exception of Harriet's misspelling, all other spellings of Terrel were not written by Terrell or anyone who was close to him.  Recordings in the bible records, his letters to the editor, and the letter from his half-brother all occurred during his life-time. He or close family members recorded this information and it should take precedence. 

So, to my brother - you don't need to change the spelling of your middle name!

Diana

© 2012

How do you spell that name?

I have been absent from posting the past week as I am trying to add my family tree to Ancestry.com.  I thought that I would finish in a week or so, but it's been over a month and I am still working.  I have put a lot of time into the tree and decided that, just as my family research, the tree will never be finished.  So, hopefully, by tomorrow, I will have my unfinished tree posted. 

As I was adding information about my great-grandmother, Harriet Albritton Bryan, I wondered if her name was spelled with one "t" or with two.  Family researchers spell it both ways.  I have been using one "t" in my family tree, but find it very easy to add that second "t."  

I decided to go back to the original source, Harriet Albritton Bryan.  After my great-great-grandfather's death, Harriet signed the "Partition of Slaves" portion of the estate settlement for her husband, Terrell Bryan, while he was serving in the Confederate Army.  

A  look at the above signature left me undecided as it could be one "t" or two.  My next closest resource would be Terrell and Harriet's family bible. As you see below, it was written with one "t" for both her birth and death entries. 

So, for my family tree, Harriet will be spelled with one "t." However, do you see my other dilemma? Harriet wrote Terrell's name with one "l." I have always used two. . . . 

Diana

© 2012

Friday's Photo: Happy Birthday to My Brother

I guess that I didn't know what to make of you at first, but you grew up to be a wonderful brother! Happy Birthday!!!

Diana

© 2012

Monday's News: Football

This clipping about the Seymour High School Panther's Football team was found in my family's old Bible. I assume that this game took place prior to 1923. Two of my aunts were graduates of Seymour High School; DeRay Bryan in 1920 and Marie Bryan in 1921. My uncle Hairston "Buster" Albritton Bryan graduated from SHS in 1923 and he played football. I saw a picture of Buster in his school yearbook - in the football team picture, he was called "Bus."

Diana

© 2012, copyright Diana Quinn

Sunday's Obituary: Laura Bryan Keith

The obituary below was found in the Stephenville Tribune. Laura L. Bryan Keith was my grandfather's (Redic Bryan) youngest sister. Laura died from complications of Typhoid Fever. The above funeral notice was found in the Bible that once belonged to Terrell and Harriet Bryan, my great-grandparents. 

Mrs. Harve Keith died very suddenly Saturday at her home in Dublin after a very short illness. No one was expecting her illness to result seriously and her death came as a great shock to her friends and relatives in Stephenville and Dublin.  

She had always enjoyed good health and no one ever dreamed that the death angel would issue a summon for her to lay aside earthly cares and return to Him who made life possible. She was of a very amiable disposition; and had won quite  a coterie of friends, and will be sadly missed from her accustomed place among them.  

She was but little over 30 years old and leaves a husband and two small daughters. The remains were buried at the West End in this city Sunday, the Rev. J. P. Gilliam conducting the services. His reference to the aged father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Terrell Bryan, the husband, and two little motherless girls was exceedingly affecting, and brought tears to almost everyone who stood near the sound of his voice. 

Her untimely death not only brings dissolution to a once happy home, and robs two little girls of a mother’s watchful care and devotion, but also falls heavily upon the father and mother as she seemed to be their idolized child.

                  From the Stephenville Tribune –back page – July 24, 1908

In the same issue – Reddick Bryan of Big Springs came in Monday. He received the telegram too late to get here in time to attend the funeral of his sister, Mrs. Harve Keith. He spent a few days here with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Terrell Bryan.

Diana

© 2012

Friday's Photo: A Special Occasion

William (with the pipe) and Susan behind the seated man. 

This picture was one found with my husband's many family pictures. I never thought that anyone in the group could have been identified. However, a visit to my husband's Aunt Kitty was all that it took.  William Joseph Quinn II is on the far left with the pipe in his mouth and his wife, Susan Murray Quinn is next to him directly facing the camera. 

When and where was this taken? Was it the 1940s or 1950s? Are these neighbors, friends, family or a combination? What was the occasion? Although I would be very surprised to find the answers to those questions, I do know that it was definitely a special occasion as everyone is dressed nicely. Note that there is only one child in the picture and to the very left, you can see a chair or couch and someone holding the flash. 

Diana

© 2012

Sunday's Obituary: Patrick Joseph Moylan

Cousins - William Quinn, Patrick "Paddy" Moylan, and James McGing

Patrick Joseph Moylan 

ALLAMUCHY TWP. -- Patrick Joseph Moylan, 82, died on Friday, July 31, 2009, at Hackettstown Regional Medical Center. He was born on July 29, 1927 in New Quay, County Clare, Ireland.

The son of the late Patrick J. Sr. and Julia (Murray) Moylan, he was the husband of Theresa (Carty) Moylan. Mr. Moylan lived in Sparta before moving to Panther Valley, Allamuchy Township, five years ago. He was a bus driver for the New York City Transit Authority for 30 years, retiring in 1977. He was a member of Our Lady of the Mountain R.C. Church in Schooley's Mountain, Long Valley. Mr. Moylan was a veteran of the U.S. Army, serving from 1954-1956.

Mr. Moylan is survived by his wife, Theresa, at home; his sisters-in-law, Eileen Curran and her husband, Patrick, of Lynbrook, N.Y., Mary Haynes of Congers, N.Y. and Phyllis Carty of Sparta, N.Y.; a brother-in-law, Tom Carty and his wife, Charlotte, of Southaven, Miss.; and many nieces and nephews.

A funeral service will be held on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. at Our Lady of the Mountain R.C. Church. Visitation will be held on Monday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at the Cochran Funeral Home, 905 High Street, Hackettstown. Interment will take place in Tranquility Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.    

                                     Published in The New Jersey Herald on August 2, 2009

Diana

© 2012

Friday's Photo: Comparing Photographs - Redic Bryan

The top pictures (1 to 4) are my grandfather, Redic E. Bryan. I never knew this grandfather as he died 26 years prior to my birth. I believe that the bottom three pictures are also my grandfather. Tell me what you think. 

1. Wedding Portrait - February 7, 1900
2. Woodman of the World Conference - before 1905
3. About 1910 when running for Baylor County tax assessor
4. About 1912 - in the Baylor County Courthouse
5. Unlabeled picture - a copy was sent to me by a distant cousin. 
6. In the 1920s - before 1927
7. In the 1920s - before 1927

Diana

Sunday's Obituary: Susan Murray Quinn

SUSAN M. QUINN

NEWPORT NEWS - Susan Mary Quinn, age 98, died Monday, Nov. 14, 1994, at Riverside Convalescent Center. She was a native of New Quay County Claire, Ireland, and was a Peninsula resident for the past five years, having come from New Jersey.

She attended St. Jerome Catholic Church.

Mrs. Quinn is survived by one son, William J. Quinn, of Newport News; one daughter, Kathaleen Dries, of Hazlet, N.J.; 27 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.

The family will receive friends from 7 to 8:30 p.m. today at Weymouth Funeral Home, where a prayer service will be held at 7:30 p.m. A Mass of the Resurrection will be conducted at 6 p.m. Wednesday at St. Jerome Catholic Church by Father James Ditty. Interment will be in Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery in Tenafly, N.J., on Friday.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to St. Jerome Catholic Church, 116 Denbigh Blvd., Newport News, Va. 23602.

                                                                  Daily Press – November 15, 1994

Susan Murry Quinn, my husband's grandmother, was the youngest of eleven children born to James Murray and Celia Linane. She was born in February of 1896* in New Quay, County Clare, Ireland. Her name was recorded as Susanna on her birth registration, but was called Susan or Susie.  She came to New York City aboard the S. S. Carmania from Liverpool on September 4, 1921 and worked as a domestic until she married William Quinn in 1926. 

*Her exact date of birth has not been determined. However, she was baptized on February 6, 1896 and at that time a child was baptized as soon as possible after the birth so I would assume that she was born on February 5 or February 6.  Her birthday has been seen as February 7 and February 15 and family members reported celebrating her birthday on both February 10 and 14. 

Diana

© 2012