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| Jacob Gidden's gravestone at Pleasant Grove Cemetery in Bienville Parish, Louisiana does not show that he has a middle name or initial.[1] |
Last week, I wrote Gathering Giddens: Jacob Giddens - Wayne County, North Carolina to Bienville Parish, Louisiana. One fact I did not write about was the addition of a middle name for Jacob that appeared to happen in the last 20 years. This gave him the name of Jacob Wealthy Giddens in the overwhelming majority of online family trees. I am writing this post in hopes of providing his descendants with information to persuade them to eliminate that middle name in their online family trees unless documentation can be found.
I do not believe Jacob, born in 1794, had a middle name. It was unusual for those born before 1800 to have a middle name.[2] Before 1900 only seven of twenty-five presidents had middle names; John Quincy Adams, William Henry Harrison, James K. Polk, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford Birchard Hayes, James A. Garland, and Chester A. Arthur.[3] John Hancock and most of the signers of the Declaration of Independence did not have middle names.[4]
By the mid-1800s, many children were given middle names.[5] Not any of Jacob's siblings, all born by 1802, appeared in records with middle names, but at least four of his seven children were given middle names.[6]
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| A letter from Jacob Giddens' War of 1812 pension record is the only document I found that might show his actual signature.[7] |
Of the over 30 documents viewed to write my last post, not any showed Jacob as having a middle name or even a middle initial.[8] There is no middle name on his cemetery stone. Detailed information about his family in books, periodicals, and family trees written between 1990 and 2002 did not show that he had a middle name.[9]
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| Jacob Giddens' name was found on many legal and government documents, in books, and in letters with no middle name or middle initial.[10] |
However, 128 trees at Ancestry.com show him as Jacob Wealthy Giddens. Only 56 trees at Ancestry.com show him as Jacob Giddens.[11] This middle name of Wealthy is seen in the trees at My Heritage, the tree at FamilySearch, at WikiTree, and at Find A Grave. Yet there is no documentation seen to confirm this as his middle name.[12]
I believe this addition of a middle name for Jacob Giddens was initially an error by possibly only one researcher. We have all made this kind of mistake. The error may have happened when that researcher found the much younger Jacob Wealthy Giddens, who lived in Georgia. This Jacob's father was George Wealthy Giddens.[13]
My theory is that the one researcher confused Jacob Wealthy Giddens with our Jacob Giddens, who is buried in Bienville Parish. He or she added the middle name in his or her online tree. The error was copied by others, and over a number of years, our Jacob Giddens became Jacob Wealthy Giddens.
If Jacob Giddens is one of your ancestors, I hope this convinces you to make the changes to Jacob in your family tree. And, look at his father, John Giddens. He was John Giddens, not John Jacob Giddens.[14]
Your Response
If you can add to any of the information in my post or disprove my theory about Jacob's name, I would love to hear from you. Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions as well. Find my email on the "About Me" tab at the top of this page.
Next Steps
I will add this post as a story to my tree at Ancestry.com and additional sites in hopes of convincing others to change Jacob's name in their online trees.
Next Giddens Post
Gathering Giddens: Abraham Giddens a.k.a. Abram - Wayne County, North Carolina to Monroe County, Alabama
Posts in this Series
Gathering Giddens: John Giddens, a Planter in North Carolina
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1. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/101520320/jacob-wealthy-giddens : accessed 26 March 2022), memorial page for Jacob Wealthy Giddens (1794-1873), Find a Grave Memorial ID 101520320, citing Pleasant Grove Cemetery, Ringgold, Bienville Parish, Louisiana, USA; Maintained by Scout Finch (contributor 47112463); Photograph of gravestone contributed by A Footstep In Time (contributor47345816).
2. "The Use of Middle Names," Bob's Genealogy Filing Cabinet : Southern and Colonial Genealogies (https://genfiles.com/articles/middle-names/ : accessed 25 March 2022).
3. "Presidents," The White House (https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/: accessed 25 March 2022).
4. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence : accessed 24 March 2022), "United States Declaration of Independence."
5. "The Use of Middle Names," Bob's Genealogy Filing Cabinet : Southern and Colonial Genealogies (https://genfiles.com/articles/middle-names/ : accessed 25 March 2022).
6. Billie Jean Poland, The History of Bienville Parish Vol. II (Bossier City, Louisiana: Everett Companies, 1990), p. 359. Also, Diana Bryan Quinn "Gathering Giddens: John Giddens, a Planter in North Carolina" blog entry, 16 January 2022, Moments in Time: A Genealogy Blog ( https://momentsintimeagenealogyblog.blogspot.com/2022/01/gathering-giddens-john-giddens-planter.html: accessed 4 April 2022).
7. "War of 1812 Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files," pension record for Jacob Giddens, database with images, Fold3 (https://www.fold3.com/image/313175019: accessed February 17, 2022).
8. Diana Bryan Quinn "Gathering Giddens: Jacob Giddens - Wayne County, North Carolina to Bienville Parish, Louisiana" blog entry, 3 April 2022, Moments in Time: A Genealogy Blog (https://momentsintimeagenealogyblog.blogspot.com/2022/04/gathering-giddens-jacob-giddens-wayne.html: accessed 4 April 2022).
9. Julia Brittain and Frances McMichael, "Descendants of John Giddens," 1770 - 1991; supplied by J. Brittain, Cypress, Texas, 1998. Also, Billie Jean Poland, The History of Bienville Parish Vol. II (Bossier City, Louisiana: Everett Companies, 1990), p. 359. Also, Euzelia Chase, Jeroline: an illustrated biography of Jeroline Perry Bumgardner with related genealogy of the Batchelor, Davis, Giddens, Perry, Thomas, and Waters families of Bienville Parish (Princeton, Louisiana: Folk-Life Books, 1994), p. 150 -151. Also, Herman L. Weiland and Hazel Giddens Morgan, "Springhill Baptist Church & The Community" The Genie (Fourth Quarter 2002), 168 - 175.
10. Diana Bryan Quinn "Gathering Giddens: Jacob Giddens - Wayne County, North Carolina to Bienville Parish, Louisiana" blog entry, 3 April 2022, Moments in Time: A Genealogy Blog (https://momentsintimeagenealogyblog.blogspot.com/2022/04/gathering-giddens-jacob-giddens-wayne.html: accessed 4 April 2022).
11. Public Member Trees, database, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1030/ : accessed 26 March 2022). A search for Jacob Giddens who was buried in Bienville Parish resulted in 184 trees.
12. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LH2B-W52: accessed 30 March 2022), profile entry for Jacob Wealthy Giddens (1794-1873). Also, WikiTree contributors, "Jacob Wealthy Giddens (1794-1873)," WikiTree: The Free Family Tree (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Giddens-84 : accessed 7 April 2022). Also, MyHeritage Family Trees, database, MyHeritage.com (https://www.myheritage.com/research/category-5000/ : accessed 7 April 2022. A search for John Wealthy Giddens (1794-1873) who was born in North Carolina and died in Bienville Parish resulted in 14 trees. Also, Find a Grave, memorial 101520320, for Jacob Wealthy Giddens.
13. Public Member Trees, database, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1030/ : accessed 26 March 2022). A search for Jacob Wealthy Giddens, born in Georgia in 1900, and the son of George Wealthy Giddens resulted in 93 trees.
14. Diana Bryan Quinn "Gathering Giddens: John Giddens, a Planter in North Carolina" blog entry, 16 January 2022, Moments in Time: A Genealogy Blog (https://momentsintimeagenealogyblog.blogspot.com/2022/01/gathering-giddens-john-giddens-planter.html: accessed 4 April 2022).
I share your frustration. Best of luck!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with that! Several years ago, I did an experiment contacting 300+ Ancestry tree holders who had my husband's John Whitmer in them. almost every tree had the wrong parents for him - Michael Whitmer in Lancaster County, PA instead of Johannes Whitmer from Barbelroth, Germany, which is proven by records and the FAN club. Most never responded, a few insisted they were correct even though they couldn't provide a single document linking Michael and John. Three years later, only about 25 of the trees had been corrected. Most of the tree holders only copy, paste or merge into their own trees, with no researching done on their own part.
ReplyDeleteThank you! This is my experiment. I will post my results. I don't expect a lot, but I had fun writing the post and at least my documentation will be out there.
DeleteMy ancestor David has brother Joseph Sasser.. someone put " Joe's S. photo " from my tree ON their tree / wrong person. I have written over and over , spoke to family member. A woman owner of FTree page will NOT change the information even though I spoke to her newphew. THIS is how wrong info. terrible researchers spread the wrong family names. I have done this since the 80's then online / computers Family Roots ect. WHY don't they want to have correct information.. So upsetting , have to vent !
ReplyDeleteThis was my way of venting. I turned this post into a PDF as well so am spreading the documentation. It might not correct all the trees but for people who look for documentation, they will have it.
DeleteI just checked my tree (14,000) and found his wife Annie Sirmans who is from my Martha “Patsy” Rouse ancestor. And there were the hints to add Jacob! Thanks for letting me know! None of the hints for him had a middle name, but I was using my phone app instead of laptop (which is where you can peruse “Jacob in other trees”). Many, many mistakes are on other trees! Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteHi Cathy, We have different Jacob Giddens in our trees. I wouldn't be surprised if they were connected - more research will need to be completed. You can see mine here. https://momentsintimeagenealogyblog.blogspot.com/2022/04/gathering-giddens-jacob-giddens-wayne.html Thank you for reading my blog!
DeleteWell done! I think this is the best thing you can do. You can't change people (or their trees). But you can publicly make your case. I hope some people find it and change their trees.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I enjoyed writing the post and have turned it into a "story" to add to online family trees. It may not change many current trees, but my documentation will be available for future researchers.
Delete