South Bend News-Times, Volume 37, Number 116, South Bend, St. Joseph County, 25 April 1920 — Page 17

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end New FEATURE, SOCIETY, WOMAN'S. THEATRICAL, AUTOMOBILE and EDITORIAL SECTION SECOND SECTION OUTE VOL. XXXVII, NO. 116. A NTAV S P A I Tt R FOR TUFI ITOME wrrii all Tim local nkws SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, SUNDAY, APRIL 25, 1920. DAT AND NIGHT FULL LEASED wip.H ti:lex;rapuic scrvicd PRICE SIX CENTS Leaves From St. Joseph County's First Book of History oins and Strains of Mendelssohn Were Lacking but Roma 'iirived in the Early Day cord nee i

Oraiage

Re

Shows

By C. J. Cooper.

Wafted from a vanished century comes the fragrance cf orar.o blossoms. The musty odor of tho f.ged record book gives way to one of lavender and old lace, and the yellowed pages with their ancient v ritlng molt Into visions of the long ago. There may not have been any orange blossoms there, and there may have been an absence of ral lavender and eld lace, but you know as you read the v.ords on tho yellowed pages that there was that komethlr.g for which orange blossoms and lavender und old lace are, always tho symbol. Even the Accumulated dust of years you blow from the worn covers of tho book is not unpleasant, for it reminds you that you aro about to delve Into the romantic past. Th well worn, aged volume County Clerk Wilbur 7.1. Warner hands you contains the record of the lirat marriage in St. Joseph county wherein the contracting parties wero white persons, and ns you open its covers and read the record on its first page, you Know that even 90 years ago there was romance in St Joseph county. Fou aro carried back to the time when Adam Keith courted Hannah Harri, and finally led her to the matrimonial a!tar in the ofllco of Squire Adam Smith. NO CIIUIICIE FOIl CEREMONY. Undoubtedly Adam Keith would have liked to have led hla bride to an altar in a church, and would have liked to havo marched proudly down the aisle to the strain of tho Mendelssohn wedding ma roh, but there were no churches In St. Joseph county in 1830. rind Adam Keith was forced to lead his bride to the office of & Justice of tho peace. It was on the 11th of November, 90 years ago, that Adam procured the marriage license. Hannah's fathr was willing that his daughter should become it bridt, for he was with his prospective son-in-law at the office of County Clerk Lathrop M. Taylor when the lloense was Issued. How old I Ian nail was when Adam Keith asked her to link her future with his does not appear, but you know that ehe must have been very young because County Clerk Taylor beiforo Issuing the license to AJ-m tr wed Hannah Insisted that Agnew Harris give his consent to the marriage of his daughter. It was Just one week after the license was Issued that Adam and Hannah went to the office of Squire mlth. If you had been there you probably would havo seen Hannah's father and mother and her sister, Sally, there. And you would probably have shed tears of Joy or eorrow, as the caso might have been, along with the rest of tho company that witnessed the first marriage to bo held in the little village of South Bend. And you would have noticed that Sally Harris watched A great Englishman ence queried: ' ' "What's In a name?" Then, for the edification and enlightenment of his readers he proffered the flowery suggestion that "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." High school orators for tho last three centuries have been taking kindly to his hint and they've been telling us that the edd bard said considerable. Some folks believe both the bard and the orators. Some folks census enumerators and census clerks for Instance have very good reason for their belief. Two months ago 60 enumerators made the. rounds in South. Bend and learned that aside from the customary Johns, Gwendolyns, Percivals and Ksthers which fond mammas pin on their helpless progeny, there are In the city at present approximately 10,000 different surnames. These cognomens are the property of TS distinct nationalities and lend color to Ave distinct races. Many cf them can't be written with our alphabet limited as it is to 25 letters. Some of them have to be sneezed. Among the 10,000 there ara enough O's to last a flustered miss all through hsr ierh year, and enough skis to afford all of Norway a lony winter of sport FIRST THTNO A MAN GETS. Each of-the 10,00!) has a purpose. Each is a subtttnt for an Identification tag. or an army serial number. A name Is thf flrpt thing a man gets handed him upon his entrance into the world. It slicks with him all through life, sticks along with many others if he happens to grow up a politician and then, to make sure the memory will linger It is carved on the stone or h!s grave. A name is like prohibition; you can't shake it. Postmen find names most helpful. Candidates for sheriff, alderrnan, councilman, mayor and prosecuting attorney likewise find names helpful, particularly and peculiarly helpful as endorsements around primary time. A Duck by any other name would be a sheriff just the same, and a Doc Carson could not help but be a Yank mayor. A deKllne. regardless of a chieftain's uniform will always mean a downslope. South Benders who summer at St. Joseph, while away their hours with their names, or with their initials at lea.-t. Along the beach the bathing girls scratch their f.rt letters in the .-.4nd and the sin I doesn't object. S.md-u riting though. i-;Vt nr.cript. leaving their prints on the s.uhN r,f St. Joseph affords a dhf r-.i'-i frm merely ittin around and getting sun-burr.ed. They intend to !! monogram court planter at Michigan City next summtr. Then, all thu

11 la (Umbo aedl SsIeflMca

the ceremony performed by Squire Smith with a groat deal of Interest, and you might have wondered why. Hut maybe if you had been there then you might have been in Sally Harris confidence, and she misht have confided to you that within a few weeks she too would be landing before Squire Smith In exactly the same position Hannah Harris was standing on that 11th day of November, 1830. And you might have been asked by Sally Harris to accompany hr and Samuel II. Poll to the offtce of ounty Clerk Taylor on the 7th day of December to get their licence to wed, and Sally might have invited you to attend the wedding two days later. SALLY finds a minister. But if Sally Harris had told you that she was to b" married by Squire Smith, she would have been mistaken. The wedding took place two days after the licence had been issued, but Sally and Samuel found :i minister of the gospel at jut the right time. Not having been there, you do not know under what circumstances tho Eev. David Miller happened to be in South Rend at Just the right moment. He may have just Arrived on missionary work among the Indians, and Sally and Samuel availed themselves of the opportunity to have the ceremony performed by a minister. Roth Hannah Keith and Sally Bell must have made a happy choice in husbands, or at least they have left no record to the contrary. You may search through all the divorce records of the St. Joseph circuit court and you will not find any record that Hannah and Sally either left their husbands, or were left by them. And the happiness of the county's First two brides did not depend upon so much as happiness does today. Ninety years ago there was much more to think about than the high cost of living, although if you had been there you might have found out that even in the long ago, persons were not inclined to give away things to eat and wear, and that even then rents were charged to newlyweds who wero not fortunate enough to own their own homes. NOT EVEN COUNTY SKAT. South Rend was a very little place 90 years ago, you would have found if you had been there. You would have soon learned that It was not even tho county seat, and that a little more than 100 persons formed the entire community. You, along with Hannah and Sally and Adam and Samuel, would have come In dally contact with Indians, you might have traded with the red men as undoubtedly Adam and Samuel did. And if you had wanted to pet married during your stay In South Rend 90 years ago, you would have been compelled to do Just as Adam and Samuel were forced to do when they wanted to get a marriage license. You would have gone to St. Joseph, which was the

purchaser will have to do to brand herself will be. stick on the monograms, sit out in the sun and. presto! P. O. R. (standing of course for Florence O'Rrien) will be imprinted on tho fair back. HOW CAItYING Ri:GAN. L.aSalle and his guides probably started sand and wood engraving in these parts. Two or three centuries back when the discoverer stepped out on the banks of the St. Joseph river he carved a cross on a historic old tree. His Indian guide went him one better and carved his initials. South Bend boys thought so well of the idea that they've been carving their initials and their names ever since, carving them in barns, waiting stations, ball park bleachers and school furniture. Rvery spring or fall sbme Iraak Walton whilst fishing along the river, yanks out a turtle with someone's initials and an 1809 mark on Its shell. The turtle is immediately given credit as an old established firm, is carried to town and is exhibited somewhere along Michigan st. until such time as the cooks can make ready the consomme. Names are lasting, yet forever changing. Over in Spain when a man marries, his wife retains her maiden name. Rut, Spanish customs have no "customers" over here. In South Rend when a man marries, his wife changes her name, and then two or three rears later as the divorce courts would indicate, she changes It again. Maybe if the man is still around he attempts another change. South Bond courts re the greatest little ccgnomen-sv itche rs in the middle west. DISCARDING GERMAN NAMI.. Marriage and divorc-. however, account not for all i'ie changes. When to kaiser der'ded to rearrange Ruropean geography he helped out a number of Hoosier lawyers that knew how surnames could be legally altered. Indiana court records show that since the war many Germans no longer like their "bachs" and their "heimers." Two hundred or more have discarded the old German nomenclature to take upon themselvrs. not by marriage, but by consent of the court. Anglicized cognomens. Hubenstein in several instances has been changed to Alexander, Vogt has chos-m Bromfivld. and the Lehmans have switched to Denis, a name alsa picked up by members of the Deitl fam ily. The American Hiiks ate growing during the transition. Hill now serves as moniker for those that were t :;. e Hellwig. Hildesheimer and l.evartosky. Kaye is proving popular and it hr. or;.. to yurr.'ol Kaun'iann. Kasov. r.y. at :::. r, Kleinht inz. Koiky, Koul-

county seat, and asked County Clerk Taylor to give you a license to wed the one of your choice, and If that one was not too young, or you had the consent of those who had In charge the Immediate future of the one you desired to make life's Journey with. County Clerk Taylor undoubtedly would have been persuaded to give you the necessary license. Then you would have been compelled to return to South Bend, and If you were not fortunate enough to find a visiting minister of the gospel In the community, you would have been compelled to lead the one of your choice to the altar In the office of Squire Smith. That Is what Adam Keith did, and that is what Alfred Stanton did when he wanted to marry Pheby Fail. Alfred chose the 9t2h day of December on which to make his visit to the office of County Clerk Taylor at St. Joseph to procure the license. He was accompanied to St. Joseph by Pheby's father, Pheby apparently being too young for County Clerk Taylor to issue a license without first being satisfied that her father was willing. The license issued to Alfred Stanton was the last to be given out by County Clerk Taylor during 1S30. , Alfred and Pheby waited until the ninth day of the new year to have the ceremony performd, and 3ou will not find any record anywhere that Alfred and Pheby were not as happy during their married life as were Adam and Hannah and Samuel and Sally. BOSTON OYEEOCKER IN RIFITCUIITES. Not having been there when Boston Overocker decided to take unto himself a wife, you cannot be quite sure what really actuated him to visit the office of County Clerk Taylor at St. Joseph for a license for himself. If you have looked through the musty record book carefully, you will be aware that Roston Gveroeker acted as the friend of many young persons desiring to be married. It was his habit to represent the parents of these young persons when the father was unable to be there to give hla consent. And although you were not sure but that seeing so many persons embark on a matrimonial venture caused Boston to take a chance himself, you were not altogether surprised as you turned the yellowed pages of the ancient record book to find that Boston had asked County Clerk Taylor for a marrlago license, but you were surprised to learn that although he had testified to tho legal age of many others desiring to get married, he was not able to satisfy the county clerk as to his own age, or that of his prospective birJe. Boston wanted to marry Sarah Mar tin dale, and on the 5th day of November, 1831, he made his wants known to the country clerk. Apparently the county clerk was dubious regarding the age of Sarah, and

some

By Charles A. Grimes. besh, Krup and Kupfernagel. Pity the poor genera-, tions to come that try to trace their geneology and find that Bryant was once Lauterbach; Graystock formerly Kraemmslach, Curtis a shortening of Hagmaier, Davis an abbreviation of Kamolksl, Denly tho English for Liehermann, Desmond a corruption of Frieselmann, Ernes a getaway from Schleuchterer and Jiggins nothing more than modernized Sondenheimer. And so the changes go on. Hundreds are chLnged yearly but the thousands remain unchanged. Ten thousands in South Rend today are practically the same, as they were six, seven and eight centuries ago when John the blacksmith first became John Smith, and Peter the baker, simply Peter Baker. WIIEN SCRXAMES WERE UXKXOWX. Up until eight centuries ago so they who knovr would tell us surnames were never used. Peter was Peter, John was John and never John Jojinskl, never until the 11th or 12th century. Then, It would seem that folks got fastidious, preferred not to run the chance of a mistake in identity and at the instance of the lords, kings and war chiefs adopted surnames. William the Conqueror is credited with having introduced cognomens in England, but the belief has no historical foundation. A century before the Normans invaded England the Irish made it obligatory by statute that all Irishmen bear two identifications, one Christian name and- one surname. Here in America the Indians adopted two names long before Marquette and the missionaries ever saw the Mississippi. The earliest explorers found the red man with two and often more names. Sometimes he'd call himself John Dove, John Turtle, John Bear, or John Moon. Usually, however, his surname was taken from the name of his tribe. We can easily imagine John Tokogon. John Pottawatomie, the nomenclature of red men who once stretched their wigwams here in northern Indiana, Although introduced eight centuries ago and made compulsory then in Ireland surnames did not come into general use in England until the reign of Queen Elizabeth. It was late in the 17th century before Wales adopted surnames and they were adopted then in Germany, Austria and Russia. OLD XAM-ES HAD MEANING. All of the old names had a meaning. Many of them now found in the census lists of South Bend have been twisted a little but enough of them remains to gather from them their original significance. The original sources from when came those first names, were derive! from rank, profess. un, personal characteristics.

of perhaps that of Boston himself, for when Robert Martindale, the father cf tho prospective bride, was called upon to testify to the ago of hla daughter, he performed the same service for Roston. The couple secured the license, and five days later they wero married. FTRST CHURCH IS BUU7T. It was r.ot until after Adam Keith and Hannah Harris. Samuel Bell and Sally Harris. Alfred StAnton and Pheby" Fall, and even Roston Overocker and Sarah Martindale, were married that a church was built In South Bend and a regular minister of the gospel took up his residence In the little village, affording an opportunity to bridal couples to enter the matrimonial state with a parson officiating. Tho first church was bnllt In 1S35, and Rev. N. R. Griffith, a Methodist minister, was the first to hold religious services In the community. From that time on, those who were married by a justice of the peace did so because they wanted to be, not because of the game reason that compelled Adam Keith and Hannah Harris to flolect Squire Smith to perform their ceremony. But even If Hannah and Sally and Pheby and Sarah had to get edong without being permitted to start their married lifo In step with the strains of the Mendelssohn, albeit those same strains have been known to lea 1 some Into unhappy and thorn-strewn paths, they were probcbly Just as happy as those who marched down the olslo of Rev. Griffith's church to the accompaniment of tho little church organ. And If you had been there you would probably have eeen tears in the eyes of Hannah and Sally and Pheby and Sarah and Adam and Samuel and Alfred and Boston marched away behind County Clerk Taylor to the west bank of the St. Joseph river to protect their homes against the expected Invasion of the Blackhawk Indiarjs, and you would have probably cried with them as their young husbands came home again with the news that the Indians had decided not to Include the little villge in their battle line, although this time you would have cried with them for Joy that Adam and Samuel and Alfred and Roston were home again and that all was safe. WHICH IS WORSE. DO YOU 'HUNK? And as you look through the musty pages of the aged record book, you are not sure which Is worse, fighting Indians or the high cost of lling, although It might occur to you that you might stand a better chance against the Indians than you do against the high cost of living, and it might also occur to you that while telnr scalped Is not the most pleas-ant experience that might befall you, there would be the compensation that the struggle would bo ended for you, at least, to say nothing of the pleasure of having been able to put up a ßght against the enemy be

Oil B localities, animals, natural objects and patronymics. The South Benders bearing the names of Black. Rrown, Grey, Green, Whyte, White, Little, Long, Short, Broadhead and Lightfoot can trace their names back to personal characteristics of the forbears whose first surnames were either adopted or thrust upon them. Our Kings, Bishops. Princes, Abbotts, Priors, Pryors, Stuarts, Smiths, Stewarts, Wrights. Carpenters, Taylors, Bakers, Baxsters, Weavers, Faulkner, Falconer, Fletcher, Glovers. Bowmans, Chapmans or Marchants. Millers, Brewers or Brewsters and Shepherds, all come, if not lineally, at least nominally from ancestors who held those ranks or engaged in those professions. NAMES FROM NATURE. Similarly from natural objects, from the landscape and from animals there came Hill, Dale, Wood, Forest, Brookes or Burns, Grove, Shaw, Bird, Lyon, Hogg or Hogue, Crabb, Fox, Roebuck, Bull, Stone. Tree. Flint, and Steele. From patronymics or Christen names the following were quite naturally derived: Andrews, Anderson (son of Andrew) Alexander, Sanderson, Sandlson, James, Jameson, Jamleson, Jones, Johnson, Jonson, Jackson, Williams, Williamson, Wills, Wilson, Thorn, Thomson, Tompson, Roberts, Robertson and Robinson. In other languages surnames are derived from much the same sources. Two Germans have Schwartz, Weis.and Eraun for Black, White and Brown and of the same names the French make Lenoir. Le Blanc and Lebrun, The Irish prefix Mac and O.to names such as come from the aforementioned sources and the French ue the Fitz to some extent. The Germans aff.x shon or eon, the Scandinavians add son or sen. the Russians always prefer a vitch and the Poles usually wind up with ski. These prefixes stand for "son of," "place of." "time of" and "father of," and change but little In changing years. Many of the most common Irish names found in the late South Rend census lists had curious origins and interesting nigniflcations. Sullivan was at one time Sillifant an I Sullivant, meaning "quick sighted." O'Donnell, McDonc-11 and all variants of that name came from Donald, Daniel and Doa, which rnar.i a dark chief." THE ORIGINAL OF MURPHY. O'Murphey was the original of Murphy and at ore time or another passed through changes. It ua. spe!t Morphey now and Morphiew again. It meant "superior." Kelly came from O'Kelly, Kiely and Kee'.ey. all meaning "fcr war." O'Connor comes from Connor". Cor.erty, Cor.nor ana tho meaning .a "a helper."

fore he succeeded In h.ncir.sr a portion of our top hair to his belt. As you continue to turn the ellowed p.icei of the musty record book, you find that Squire Adam Smith did not have a monopoly In tho marriage busir.e.-.. that his ofüce wus not the only Gretna Green In Sr. Joseph county 9 0 years ago, and that there wrvre other squires who wero favored by tho prtFTe of and fees of persons who wanted to b married. i:. 11 Tutt. who with County Clerk Taylor, led the men of South Bend to the banks of the EL Jos.enJj riytr to repel the invading E!a?khawks. and who cam out of the town's defense a a lieutenant colonel, married many a couple after Rev. Grlttth h.vJ founded his church. But you will refrain from blnming Lieut. Col. Tutt from becoming a marrying Jurtice when you remember that he Ios-t his positron as town c'.trk, owing to the decision of the inhabitants of the community that a town government wns rot particular' needed. PLENTY OP COMPETITION. Peter Johnson, who was one of tho members of the first board of town trustees, and who Iot hi-i Job t the Fame time and for the same cause that Lieut, Col. Tutt lost his, also became a Justice of the pence, and you have found by reading the record book that he. too. married South Rend couples even after Rev. Griffith entered into cmpetltlon with the Justices of the peace in that particular line of their endeavor. And although the records convince you that many persons in South Bend SO and 90 years ago npparentlv preferred to get their matrimonial start in a justice of tho peace office, you also find that Rev. CrlfiHh was not wholly neglected by those who had marriage ceremony favors to distribute. And with that conviction you close tho duity co-vc-i of the yellowed paged record book, shutting out the vision of the long ago, and exchanging the fragrarcs of orange blossoms and lavender tn l old lace for th odor cf something that seems to you a little mere modern, and lay the book back upon its shelf, to moulder there and accumulate more dust until Eom other curious person Invades tho realms of the rast. You brush the dust of years from your haodst and f.ice and clothes, almost wishing that you had been there with the characters In the records that yu might have gotten at first hand a pcrFpectlv of their time. For there Is necessarily much that happened In those days that did not get Into tho records, aad you do not feel entirely satisfied, although yon have founl much to Interest you. And you promise yourself that seme day you will again visit tho office of County Clerk Warner, and enter the big vault where the atmosphere of the pan is brought to you through a pcrnsal of the record of the community's early pioneers.

UM MälMH

Dougherty 1 derived from O'Dohcrty, or Daughaday, meaning "a destroyer." Moloney in its original form was O'MuIIownoy, Moloney or Mullant, th" name meaning "tho thoughtful one." McCormirk was originally O'Cormac, meaning "Fon of the crown." Flynn was at first Flann. and It meant "red." Flannegan and FJnnegan In the olden days meant "druid." Boyle was Boylan. Eolan, Roland or Boylan, meaning "the benign." O'Brien was Bryant, O'Eryan, Bryan. Brines and Byron, meaning a "singer or author." Brady was Mc Brady or O'Brady, which meant "the captain of the ship." Macau! ey was O'Cawley, Mc Gawly, Mc Auly, Mc Auliffe and Cawley, meaning "the echo." or literally the "eon of the rock. The Hebrews and the Arabians were among ths last people-j to adopt surnames. The former distinguished two men of the same first name by cal'lnjr, fcr nample one, Solomon ben David (meaning Solomon, son of David), and the other Abraham, ibn Esra (meaning Abraham, son of Esra). Transition from Solomon, son of Abraham, to Solomon Abramson was 3s.y. The Isaacsons. Davidsons. Jacobs, Jacobson of today wero descended from the the sons of David, Jacobs and Isaars of old. ENGLISH AND FRENCH SOURCES. Among the more common mrres on the present census l m and in the South Rend directory many can be traced back to English and French beginnings. Almond, Aleman, Elman, Oldman, Helrnan, Hetlman. Holrr.a i all came? originally from the German adf-munl. meaning "strong cr powerful protection." Apple, Appleby, Applej.jhn came originally from a Sllcsian word meaning "horf-e." Armfleld, Armsby, Ormsby, Arrns-v or h. Armstrong nil ran be traced to the old Antjlo Sdci of "arms," meaning poor. Ashman, Orman, Osm-m 1. Oswald. As :.ian and the like came originally from tkold Anglo-Saxon ash, which one t!ra meant the ".:! of a spear rr.ad of wood." Augur, AJge-r, Aucher, Archer and Augers came from an old Er.glljh w. t i nuanlr.g "very strong, helpful in war." Eacon, Iiiggins and sdrnilar r.arne.-j are said to corruptions of beacon, mrar.ir.g ' t bright IJi;ht." Badcr r. Rasher and others com from two words th.it meant "war ctar." Bo.tts.on. Bxteman ar.l Batrr.Hn dt-.eloped no doubt from "be at man." Bike and Ei!.--well came from cn estate called P.akewell in Erj?'.an i. Barker was first borne no doubt by a tanner, iar being at or.e tirr.e extensively v.d in Ergllbh :nT1er:..,s. Barrows In fid I!:iii.-h mar.s ' wood or Rrove." Bsrter. P.rtr. Fu ton and B rt rs orr. fro'?: '.CONTINUED ON PAGE EIGHT)