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Hello, this is ‘Barb’ who is Tom’s cousin. Our Grandmothers (on my Father’s side) were sisters. I had to sign using a new name because for some reason I can’t access the site under my ‘Barb’ name.
Anyway, I was reading the post about the woman named “Hester’ and I was wondering if Hester is a NA name? I have a Hester Carol Redd in my Mother’s Line who my aunt said was full blood Indian. But she died before I could ask her more about it. Oral history has it that one of my GG.Grandmothers on my mother’s side was full Cherokee and the other GGGrandmother was full Choctaw. I believe this Hester is one of the NA’s in my mother’s line.
We also have another one in the same line that goes way back whose name is Mary “Polly” Caweya. Does that name ring a bell with anyone?
I was talking to my sister tonight and she says that she heard we have some Apache in us too as our people on my mother’s side, wound up in the SW eventually. But I don’t know if that is true either.
Ok. Sorry to be so long winded.
Barb
Hi Barb,
Sorry you had that problem.
According to “The Dictionary of First Names”, Oxford Univ. Press,
“Hester” is English, “variant of Esther, of medieval origin. For a long while the two forms were interchangable, the addition or dropping of ‘h’ being commonplace in a whole range of words, but now they are generally regarded as two distinct names.”
You should start a “New Thread” for the other names you mentioned.
Bill
Hi Barb,
I don’t know if the name Hester has any particular significance or is in fact a NA name. I also speculated that it could be a NA name. Sometimes I think that our ancestors just chose first names because they liked them, just as people do today. Hester’s younger sisters were named Georgietta and Madlen (Ada Madlen). Her parents must have liked Madlen so much that they called her by her middle name instead of her first name Ada. I know that Madlen is a variation of Madeleine, which is a common French name. It is interesting to speculate but I don’t think we can ever prove one way or another the motivation for choice of a first name, although I wish we could!
Hi Bill,
I just posted a reply to Barb. I wanted to provide some additional information on Martha Stephens Rogers. To the best of my knowledge, she had never been married prior to her marriage to Dean Rogers.
Martha was the daughter of Emmor Jefferson Stephens and Elizabeth Bowles. Emmor was born in 1777 in Maryland, the son of Thomas Stephens and Jane Jefferson. In 1801 he married Elizabeth Bowles, who was also born in 1777. She was born in Virginia. Their daughter Martha Stephens was born in Virginia in 1811.
The names Rogers, Stephens and Bowles all appear to have Cherokee connections. I am finding it harder to discover information on Dean Rogers’ heritage as he was born in Canada. Do you know any internet sites that might help me with this? Thank you!
Hello Bev 🙂
I have also heard that the people who were responsible for writing down information about Indians would sometimes just give them a ‘white’ name because they couldn’t spell their Indian name. I have also heard that Indians were forced to give up their Indian names and were assigned white names. I can’t quote whare I heard that, but I do know that I have heard that sevreal times. It may be one of those myths, but I kind of believe it.
Thanks. Barb
Hi Bill,
I am trying to determine where Martha Stephens and Dean Rogers lived before they were married in Iowa on January 7, 1841. Would it be possible for you to check the U.S. Federal Census for the years 1830 and 1840 for both Dean Rogers and Martha Stephens? That would show me in which states each one of them lived before they married. The purpose of my request is to determine when and how they came to Iowa. For example, did they come together or separately? If both Dean Rogers and Martha Stephens are not shown as living in Iowa in 1830 or 1840, then the U.S. Federal Census will show in what states they were living in 1830 and 1840. This will give me more information about their backgrounds. Thanks in advance for all your help!
Prior to the 1850 census, only the name of the Head of Household was recorded.
Dean Rogers/Rodgers does not appear on any 1840 Iowa census and I suspect he was still in Canada. There are other male Rogers from Canada in 1850 Jackson and Clinton Co’s, Iowa, and judging from their children’s places of birth and where their wives were from, I’d guess these Rogerses came to Iowa in the early 1840s. These two counties are just up-river from Des Moines, Henry and Lee counties.
When they married, Martha Stephens was about 30 yrs old.
This is an unusually late age for a first marriage in that time period so she may have been a widow when they married.
On the 1840 Henry Co., Iowa Terr. census, there is one STEPHENS/STEVENS household. If Martha’s maiden name was Stephens, she may be a relative of this line:
Joseph Stephens, b.abt. 1799 Shenandoah Co., Va, d. 20 Mar 1880 Henry Co., Iowa, whose family moved to Preble Co., Ohio before 1820 where they appear on that county’s 1820 census.
He m’d 1st, Jane Colville on 17 Feb 1820 in Preble Co., Oh., and m’d 2nd, Elizabeth BLOOUNT “about 1841, Iowa, but that 1841 date and state is suspect in my mind and was probably earlier and elsewhere. Elizabeth was b.abt. 1801 in Maryland. These are not Martha’s parents, but I suspect Joseph may be a relative.
Joseph is the only person in his 1840 Iowa household and is joined by 1850 by wife Elizabeth, b.abt. 1801 Maryland, and children Jesse, b.abt. 1826 Ohio; Thomas, b.abt. 1829 Ohio, and James, b.abt. 1831 Ohio.
Joseph’s parents were John Stephens, b. 1748 Frederick Co., Va, d. 17 Mar 1819 Preble Co., Oh., and wife Jeanette VANCE, b. 1760 Frederick (earlier Orange) Co., Va, d. 15 Sept 1828 Preble Co., Oh.
Jeanette would have been too old to be the mother of Martha, b. 1810. Again, my point is that Martha may be a descendant of this line of Stephens, and you should work on identifying the daughters of Joseph Stephens’ older brothers.
Additionally, Lee Co., Iowa has been requiring Death Certificates since 1880 and may have one for Martha E. Stephens Rogers, who was still living in Fort Madison, Lee County, Iowa in 1880.
A death certificate usually names a person’s parents when known.
Bill
Hello Dovelady,
You asked me if my great-grandmother’s first name Hester was a Native American name. You also have two Hesters in your family. I have done a little research and found that the name of Hester appears frequently as a Choctaw name. I found quite a few females with the first name Hester who were Choctaw. I will try to do a little more research in this area.
Thank you Gussie 🙂
My aunt, before she died, wrote me a note to let me know that two of my ancestors were NA. She said one was full blood Cherokee and the other one was full blood Choctaw, but she never said which was which, and which ‘grandmother’ was which.
So, Hester could have been the Choctaw then. Although someone else here has pointed out that Hester is also an English name.
You said I have two Hesters in my line? I think I have only seen one. Do you have some information that I may not have?
Thank you 🙂
Originally posted by Bev Stayart
Hello Dovelady,
You asked me if my great-grandmother’s first name Hester was a Native American name. You also have two Hesters in your family. I have done a little research and found that the name of Hester appears frequently as a Choctaw name. I found quite a few females with the first name Hester who were Choctaw. I will try to do a little more research in this area.
Hi Bill,
Please see my prior post of January 3. I already know from a family document that Martha Ellen Stephens was the daughter of Emmor Jefferson Stephens and Elizabeth Bowles. Emmor, born in 1777 in Maryland, was the son of Thomas Stephens and Jane Jefferson. In 1801, Emmor married Elizabeth Bowles, who was born in Virginia in 1777. My great-great-grandmother Martha Ellen Stephens is their daughter. As we already know, Martha was born in Virginia in 1811. There is no evidence that she was married prior to her marriage to Dean Rogers.
I don’t know if my Stephens line is connected in some way to the Stephens line you identified on the 1840 Henry County, Iowa Terr. census, but it may be. The information I have about Martha’s parents is from an old family document and is very credible.
Thank you for the information about the other male Rogers from Canada in 1850 Jackson and Clinton counties in Iowa. This gives me a good starting point for investigation of my Canadian Rogers line.
Hi Bill,
In your January 8 post, you said, “There are other male Rogers from Canada in 1850 Jackson and Clinton Co’s, Iowa, and judging from their children’s places of birth and where their wives were from, I’d guess these Rogerses came to Iowa in the early 1840s.”
Could you please advise the first names of the male Rogers in these two Iowa counties and where in Canada they were from? Also, please tell me the names of their wives and children. It would also help to know where their wives were from, and lastly, when and where their children were born.
I currently have almost no information on Dean Rogers, other than the fact he was born in Canada in 1809/10. I know that he married Martha Stephens in 1841 in Iowa. The period of his life from 1809 to 1841 is a complete blank.
Thank you for giving me this additional information.
1850 Jackson Co., Ia Census; South Fork Twp; 29 Oct; p.359A & B; family # 1152:
Adolphus TAILOR; 43, m, – , farmer, $200, NY
Alvira………………; 43, f, – , Mass.
Adaline……………; 19, f, – , NY
Philip ROGERS; 14, m, – , Canada.
John……………; 11, m, – , Canada.
Harriet…………; 8, f, – , Canada.
William D………; 2, m, – , Iowa.
1850 Jackson Co., Ia Census; Town of Maquoketa; 28 Oct; p.361A
family # 1183:
William ROGERS; 32, m, – , Shoemaker; $200, Canada
Eliza……………..; 31, f, – , Ireland.
Martha DARLING; 14, f, – , Canada.
Sarah…………….; 10, f, – , Canada.
Edward H……….; 4 months, m, – , Iowa.
Joseph SMITH; 35, m, – , Joiner; $0, Canada.
Martha A……..; 19, f, – , Canada.
1850 Clinton Co., Ia Census; Elk River Dist 5; 25 Sept; p.198A; family # 231:
Lewis F. ROGERS; 33, m, – , farmer, $700, Canada West
Mariah…………….; 30, f, – , Vt. (as “Sarah M” in 1860)
Hascal…………….; 10, m, – , Canada
Sarah A…………..; 8, f, – , Canada
Josephine………..; 4, f, – , Canada
Benj. L…………….; 2, m, – , Iowa
Hi Dovelady,
I found an interesting article concerning the history of American names. Because the English were by far the most numerous early European settlers, most “American” names were English in origin. Because of this dominant English influence, Native American, Spanish and French names were usually limited to place names.
For example, among the pilgrims the top five male names were John, William, Thomas, Edward and Robert. For females, the three most popular names were Mary, Elizabeth and Sarah, followed closely by Patience and Hester.
There were many Native Americans named Hester, such as our ancestors, because it was a very popular name in general at the time. It also reflects the fact that English culture formed the framework of this country.
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