Mar 01

Men’s Nicknames

Last week it was interesting to look at some women’s nicknames and abbreviated versions of given names that were used in the past. And it was interesting to hear from some of you who shared interesting family names, nicknames, and names you have run across while doing research.

I learned even more about names by following up on a question about the unusual name Submit. I had never heard that given name, but after a little research, I learned that Submit is one of a number of names called virtue names, many of which were used in colonial times by the Puritans. Some women’s virtue names include Faith, Grace, Hope, Joy, Silence, Deliverance, Discipline, Prudence, Temperance, and many others.

Continuing on with names, below are some of the more common men’s nicknames and abbreviated given names, focusing mainly on American and German names that you may run across in old records.

Zion Lutheran, Schumm, dedication, 1915, colorized.

I did not include nicknames that are obvious derivatives of the given name, such as Alex for Alexander.

Achim: Joachim
Adi/Dolph: Adolph, Adolf
Alois: Aloysius
Armin: Herman
Barney: Barnaby
Bart/Bat: Bartholomew
Bernie/Bern: Bernard
Bert/Berti/Bertie: Bertram, Albert, Herbert, Hubert, Norbert, Engelbert
Bo/Boy/Buddy: Boyd
Carl: Carlisle
Claus/Klaus: Nikolaus, Claudius
Cly/Ide: Clive, Clyde
Con/Connie/Curd/Curt/Conny: Conrad, Konrad
Con/Cor/Cory/Niel: Cornelius
Cy: Cyril
Dewey: Dwight
Dieter: Dietrich
Dima/Mitri: Dmitri
Dolf: Adolf
Dyer: Obediah
Early/Erl: Earl
Eben: Ebenezer
Finn: Phineas
Floy: Floyd
Frank: Francis
Fritz: Friedrich
Georg: Jorg
Gerg, Gert: Gerhard(t)
Gus/Gussi: August, Augustus, Angus
Hal/Harry: Harold, Henry
Hank: Henry
Hans/Iwas/Jan: Johannes
Jos/Jupp/Osip/Sepp: Joseph
Lazar: Eleazer
Lee/Lanny: Leland
Lig/Lige/Lije: Elijah
Louis/Lutz: Ludwig
Mewes: Bertholomaus
Mo/Reece: Maurice
Mills/Tony: Milton
Monty/Emery: Montgomery
Nate: Nathan/Nathaniel
Ned: Edward
Newt: Newton
Obie/Oben: Obadiah
Ollie: Orville
Oz/Ozzy/Waldo: Oswald
Ozzy: Osmond
Poldi: Leopold
Paddy: Patrick
Ralphy/Rafe: Ralph
Riah/Rias/Rye: Zachariah
Ricky: Erik
Rinney: Phineas
Rolf/Ralf/Rudi: Rudolph
Roo: Rufus
Sandy: Alexander
Si: Josiah, Cyrus
Stoffel: Christoph
Sigi: Siegfried
Thies: Matthias
Tiah: Azariah
Tony: Anton
Ulie/Ollie: Ulysses
Uli/Ulli: Ulrich
Veit: Valentin
Wasti/Wastl: Sebastian
Zander: Alexander

My Grandpa Schumm was named Cornelius. I don’t believe he was called anything other than Cornelius.

Some male virtue names include Able, Chance, Judge, Leon, Merit, Phoenix, Reason, Sterling, Uriah, and Valor.

Sometimes we don’t know where a person’s nickname came from. This is particularly true in hubby Joe’s family. His Uncle Fred was called Joe, cousin Kent was called Pete, and brother Fred was called Butch.

 

 

Feb 27

Tombstone Tuesday-Viola L. (Baumgartner) Kable

I continue to write about the John Henry Kable family, and as it turns out, four of the six family members do not have marked burial sites. I may have to rename this series of blog posts Tombstoneless Tuesday.

Today’s post, John Henry Kable’s wife Viola L. Baumgartner, who married John H. Kable (1877-1957) in Mercer County on 4 November 1906. [1]

Viola L. Baumgartner was born in Adams County, Indiana, on 9 March 1889, the daughter of John and Nettie (Urick) Baumgartner. [1] [2] [3]

Viola Baumgartner came from a large family. In 1900, Viola Baumgartner, age 11, lived with her parents, six siblings, and two half-brothers in Dunkirk, Jay County, Indiana: Joe [John] Baumgartner, 36, head; Jeannette [Nettie], 31, wife; Eddie, 13; Edgar, 13; Viola, 11; Irene, 9; Cloah, 6; John, 4; Frank, 9 months; Jesse Baumgartner, 19, son; and William Baumgartner, 17, son. Joe/John and Jeannette/Nettie had been married 16 years, so the father John likely had two sons, Jesse and William, from a previous marriage. Jeannette/Nettie had given birth to eight children and seven of them were living. [2]

John H. Kable married Viola Baumgartner on 4 November 1906 and their marriage record gives some valuable information. It indicates that Viola L Baumgartner was born in Adams County, Indiana, 9 March 1889, the daughter of John Baumgartner and Nettie Urick. Their marriage license indicates that Viola was 17 years old when they married, and because she was underage her father gave permission for her to marry. Neither John nor Viola was previously married. Viola resided in or near Rockford and John, a teacher, resided in Liberty Township, Mercer County. They were married by C. L. Culbertson. [1]  

John H Kable & Viola Baumgartner marriage record, 1906 [1]

John H Kable & Viola Baumgartner marriage record, 1906 [1]

In 1910 John, 33, farmer, and Viola, 21, resided in Liberty Township, Mercer County and had two children, Walter, 2, and Laurina, 3 months. John’s mother Catharine Kable also lived with them. [4]

John H. and Viola had two more children within the next couple years, Victor Daniel Kable, born in 1912, and Bessie Maud Kable, born in 1913.

In September 1918, Viola Kable was given as her husband John’s next of kin when he registered for the draft in Mercer County. [5]

John’s wife Viola (Baumgartner) Kable died in Liberty Township on 11 December 1918, aged 29 years, 8 months, and 2 days. She died from pneumonia, associated with the Spanish flu. Her death certificate indicates she was buried in the Chattanooga Cemetery, on the 13th. [6] I assume this was Kessler/Liberty Cemetery, a couple miles south of Chatt. But she does not have a grave marker. Neither does her husband John H. Perhaps she is buried near her husband John and perhaps they both had temporary markers at one time.

Viola (Baumgartner) Kable death certificate, 1918 [6]

John H and Viola L (Baumgartner) Kable had the following children:
Walter Elmer Kable (1907-1921)
Viola Laurina (1910-1921)
Victor Daniel Kable (1912-1961), married Agnes L. Spangler
Bessie Maud Kable (1913-1980), married Dale Henry Eley

[1] Ohio, U.S. County Marriage Records, 1774-1993, Mercer County, 1904-1910, p.278, John H. Kable & Viola L. Baumgartner, 4 Nov 1906, Ancestry.com. 

[2] 1900 U.S. Census, Indiana, Jay County, Dunkirk, ED 68, p.4, dwelling 76, family 76, Joe [sic] Baumgartner; Ancestry.com.

[3] WPA, Indiana, Adams County, Index to Birth Records, 1882-1920, Vol. 1, Surnames A-Z, Baumgartner, 9 Mar 1889; Ancestry.com.

[4] 1910 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, ED 119, p.12A [penned], dwelling 212, family 219, John Kable; Ancestry.com.

[5] U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Ohio, Mercer County, John Henry Kable; Ancestry.com.

[6] “Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953,” Mercer County, Viola L Kable, 11 Dec 1918; FamilySearch.org.

Feb 23

Women’s Nicknames

While doing some recent research I came across the name Nettie. Nettie is not a particularly unusual nickname, but I could not come up with the original given name for that nickname.

People have used shortened versions of their names for a long time. It is usually fairly easy to figure out the given name from which a nickname is derived, but some nicknames do not seem to have any connection to the given name. Some of the not-so-obvious nicknames such as Polly for Mary, Peggy for Margaret, Patsy/Patty for Martha, and Sarah for Sally, are more confusing. Where did they come from?

Church records record the original given name, the formal Christian name given to the person at their baptism. An individual may have used a nickname or an abbreviated version of their given name later in life and you want to make sure you are looking at the same person in various records.

My paternal grandmother, Gertrude (Brewster) Miller, was called Gertie, and sometimes Gert.

Gertrude E. Brewster (1912 photo)

At any rate, I could not come up with the given name for the nickname Nettie. There are actually a couple. Nettie could have been christened Annette or Jeannette, or even Henrietta.

Below is a list of a few women’s nicknames and their original root name. This list may help you determine who someone really is if they used one of these nicknames.

Bess/Bessie/Beth/Betsey/Betty: Elizabeth
Callie/Carrie: Caroline
Cindy: Lucinda
Clara: Clarissa
Dolly/Dot: Dorothy
Ellen/Elly/Elsie: Eleanor
Elsie: Helen
Elise/Eliza/Elke/Ellen/Else: Elizabeth
Erna: Ernestine
Etta: Henrietta
Eva: Evelyn
Fanny: Frances, Franziska
Flora/Flossie: Florence
Fronie: Sophronia
Gerty/Gert: Gertrude
Grete: Margarete
Hanna: Johanna
Hatty: Harriet
Helma: Wilhelmine
Henny/Hetty: Henriette
Hilde: Hildegard, Brunhilde, Mathilde
Ika: Veronika
Ina/Ines: Agnes
Isa/Isbella: Elisabeth
Kate/Kay/Kitty: Catherine, Katherine
Lena: Angelina, Caroline, Helen, Madeleine, Magdalene
Letty: Letitia
Lottie: Charlotte
Liz/Lizzie: Elizabeth
Lucy: Lucinda
Madge/Maggie: Margaret, Margery
Mattie: Martha
Meg: Margaret
Mena: Almena
Millie: Amelia, Emelia, Mildred
Mina/Minnie: Wilhelmina
Myra: Elmira
Mollie: Martha, Mary
Nancy/Nan: Anna, Ann
Nell: Helen
Nellie: Eleanor, Ellen, Helen
Nettie: Henrietta
Nora: Eleanor, Lenora
Patsy/Patty: Martha
Peggy: Margaret
Polly: Mary
Retta: Loretta
Rika/Riki/Ricki: Frederike, Friederike, Fredericke
Rita: Marguerite
Sally: Sarah
Sandra: Alexandra
Sophie: Sophia, Sophronia
Tess: Theresa, Teresa
Tilly: Matilda
Toni: Antonia
Torie: Victoria
Trudy: Gertrude
Viney/Vinnie: Lavina
Wilma: Wilhelmine
Winnie: Winifred, Edwina

Elizabeth has the most nickname variations and the name Elizabeth is used a lot in the Schumm family. My mom’s middle name was Elizabeth and her grandmother was Elizabeth, nicknamed Lizzie.

Lastly, here is an old German name that is probably never used any more, but a name that is found in my family genealogy, Kunigunde, which has the nicknames of Gunda and Gundi.

Feb 20

Tombstone Tuesday-Walter E. Kable & Viola Laurina Kable

Last week’s Tombstone Tuesday featured John Henry Kable (1877-1957), a deceased individual without a tombstone, although he reportedly was buried in Kessler, aka Liberty Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio.

The son of Frederick (1817-1886) and Catharine (Koch) (1837-1911) Kable, John H. grew up in Liberty Township and married Viola L. Baumgartner on 4 November 1906. [1]

By 1910 John and Viola had two children, Walter Elmer, 2, and Viola Laurina, 3 months. [2]

According to Zion Chatt’s records, Walter Elmer Kable was born 16 August 1907, the son of John Henry and Viola L. Baumgartner. He was baptized at Zion Chatt on 10 April 1908 with his parents serving as his baptismal sponsors.

Also, according to Zion Chatt’s records, Viola Laurina Kable was born 8 January 1910, the daughter of John Henry and Viola L. Baumgartner. She was baptized 24 July 1910 with her parents serving as her baptismal sponsors.

In 1913 John H. Kable and family lived in Fort Wayne, Indiana, for a short time [3] but they moved back to Mercer County by 1918. [4] And by 1918 John H. and Viola had four children.

John H. Kable’s wife Viola (Baumgartner) Kable died in Liberty Township, Mercer County, on 11 December 1918. [5]

In 1920 widower John H. Kable, 42, and his four children lived in Mercer County with John’s widowed sister, Christina (Kable) Baumgartner, 52: John H Kable, 42, widowed; Walter E Kable, 12, son; Laurina V. Kable, 10, daughter; Victor D Kable, 8, son; Bessie Kable, 6, daughter; and Christina Baumgartner, 52, sister, widow. [6] 

John’s two oldest children, Walter and Viola Laurina, both died within a few weeks of each other in 1921.

According to Zion Chatt’s death and burial records, Viola Laurina Kable died from spinal meningitis on 11 November 1921, aged 11 years, 10 months, and 13 days. She was buried in the Chattanooga Mausoleum on the 13th.  She was survived by her father, 2 brothers, and 1 sister. 

According to Zion Chatt’s death and burial records, Walter E. Kable died from blood poisoning on 24 November 1921, aged 15 years. He was buried in the Chattanooga Mausoleum on the 27th.  He was survived by his father, a sister and a brother. According to his civil death record, Walter died in Mercer County. [7]

Chattanooga Mausoleum, Chattanooga, Ohio

Although the records indicate both children were laid to rest in the Chattanooga Mausoleum, neither has a marked vault there. However, John H. Kable purchased three vaults at the Chattanooga Mausoleum between 1919 and 1925.

John H. Kable purchased compartments no. 9 & 10, Section F, in the Chattanooga Mausoleum on 10 February 1919, certificate no. 21. Were these two compartments originally purchased for John H. and his wife Viola? But she had already passed away in 1918 and according to her death certificate she was buried in the Chattanooga Cemetery. Did that mean Kessler/Liberty Cemetery? Her tombstone has not been found there.

Or did John H. Kable originally purchase the two compartments for himself and his wife Viola, but used them instead for his two children? He probably did not expect two of his children to die at such a young age.  

Six years later John H. Kable purchased another compartment at the Chattanooga Mausoleum. He purchased compartment no. 11, Section F West, on 7 December 1925, certificate no. 23. Perhaps he purchased that additional compartment for himself, where he would be laid to rest next to his children?

It is also interesting to note that John’s sister Christena (Kable) Baumgartner purchased compartments no. 7 & 8, Section F, on 22 February 1918, Certificate no. 19. Christena and her husband John Baumgartner are laid to rest there and their compartments are engraved with their names.

Chattanooga Mausoleum

The Kable family has five compartments in the Chattanooga Mausoleum, compartments 7-11, all next to each other.  

Records indicate that John H.’s children Walter E. and Viola Laurina were laid to rest in the Chattanooga Mausoleum. Perhaps their names were never carved on their vaults.

The father, John Henry Kable died in Adams County, Indiana, on 22 January 1957 and is reportedly buried in Kessler Cemetery, but there is no marker for him either.

[1] Ohio, U.S. County Marriage Records, 1774-1993, Mercer County, 1904-1910, p.278, John H. Kable & Viola L. Baumgartner, 4 Nov 1906; Ancestry.com. 

[2] 1910 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, ED 119, p.12A [penned], dwelling 212, family 219, John Kable; Ancestry.com.

[3] Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1 Feb 1913; Newspapers.com.

[4] U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Ohio, Mercer County, John Henry Kable; Ancestry.com.

[5] “Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953,” Mercer, Viola L Kable, 11 Dec 1918; FamilySearch.org.

[6] 1920 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, ED 140, dwelling 196, family 213, John H Kable; Ancestry.com.

[7] “Ohio Death Index, 1908-1932, 1938-1944, 1958-2007,” Walter E. Kable, 1921; FamilySearch.org.

 

Feb 16

The First Schumm Reunion, 1924

The descendants of the John George Schumm family in America have an important anniversary this year, 100 years since the first Schumm Reunion. The biennial reunion is held in August at Zion Lutheran Church in Schumm, Ohio. The earliest reunions were held on the Schumm homestead farm, just west of the church.

The first Schumm reunion was held 10 August 1924 at the Henry G. and Walter E. Schumm farm.

The first Schumm Reunion, 1924, at the Schumm homestead.

I will write about the Schumm reunions and the Schumm family several times during this anniversary year. Today, a news article about the first Schumm reunion, printed in the 14 August 1924 edition of The Willshire Herald:

Schumm Reunion, Willshire Herald, 14 Aug 1921

Schumm Family Reunion Brings Many Together
The first annual re-union of the Schumm family, held at the home of Henry G. and Walter E. Schumm, near Schumm church, Sunday, was a magnificent success from every point of view, including ideal weather conditions. Members of the family bearing that name came from far and near to participate in the event, representatives being in attendance from Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, and as far west as California. Between four hundred and five hundred Schumm kin were present, and many old ties were re-newed and new ones made, which will be reflected in future gatherings of the direct descendants of John George Schumm, who came to this country from Germany in 1832, settling first in Philadelphia, Pa., coming to Holmes County, O, several years later, and to Van Wert County in 1837, at which time he made entry on a section of land. Direct descendants of the founder of this branch of the Schumm family are said to number 850, perhaps, a greater number.

The real opening of the re-union took place at the noon hour, at which time a bounteous picnic dinner was served at long tables in the yard, places being provided for every one of the assembled guests.

Following the dinner a fine literary and musical program was presented, the participants being presented to the audience by Rev. Otto Schumm of Centerville, Mich., who officiated in the capacity of chairman of the re-union. The program opened with a musical selection, The Appollo March, by Zion orchestra; welcome address, Rev. Otto Schumm; vocal solo, “Call Me Back, Pal O’ Mine,“ Mrs. Estella Gunsett; reading of family history, Rev. Paul Schumm; piano solo, “Thine Own,” Miss Alma Buechner; humorous recitation, Hugo Schumm; vocal solo, “The Kookuck Clock,” Mrs. Estella Gunsett; prayer and benediction, Rev. R.O. Bienert, the program concluding with the singing of “God Be with You Till We Meet Again.”

Officers elected for ensuing term were: H.G. Schumm, president; C.A. Schumm, vice president; F.G. Roehm, secretary; Oscar Lankenmann [sic; Lankenau], treasurer. The officers elected were give [sic] authority to select committees necessary to carry on the work of the re-union association and to perfect plans for the holding of future re-unions, it not being decided at this year’s gathering whether to have a re-union annually or every two years, owing to the fact that the relationship is scattered throughout the United States.

During the giving of the program a collection of missions was taken up, amounting to $70.

First Schumm Reunion 1924.

Here is another photo that I believe was taken at that first Schumm reunion.

First Schumm reunion, 1924.

Note the brass quartet at the front.  

Brass ensemble at first Schumm reunion, 1924.

Some of the musicians from another photo.

It is unknown what songs the brass ensemble may have played, but some popular secular songs of that time were Rhapsody in Blue; It Had to Be You; California, Here I Come; Somebody Stole My Gal; Linger Awhile; I Wonder What’s Become of Sally; Keep My Skillet Good & Greasy; and Charleston.  

I can just hear the little brass ensemble playing California, Here I Come.  

I hope to see many of my Schumm relatives at this historic reunion on 4 August this year.