Figuring out all the names, nicknames, ordering of names, and initials for a person is one of the great challenges in genealogy. Sometimes the answer is obvious with research and sometimes it isn’t.
The Debate
My Grandmother Dessie May (Thomas) Pellett and her youngest brother “Bud” Thomas always argued about their mother’s real name. Was her real name Sadie Ella or was it Sadie Ellen and Ella was a nickname?
They couldn’t ask her directly since she died due to hemorrhaging and myocarditis related to childbirth. Her baby was stillborn or died within hours of birth. He was the third of nine pregnancies to come to a tragic end. She died two days later.
Dessie was 15, however, at the time of her mother’s death. So, she actually knew her mother and had some opportunity to know her mother’s name. However, Bud was a toddler when his mother died and probably remembered little if anything about his mother. So, his information would have come from their father or other relatives.
The Real Name
Still, according to her delayed birth record and her marriage record, both of them were incorrect. Their mother’s name was Sarah Ellen (Ashby) Thomas. The name Sadie appears in some records, but it appears that most often she was simply referred to as Ella. She had been born August 13, 1884 in Fayette County, Iowa and died November 2, 1918 in the hospital at Fort Scott, Kansas.
Life After Ella
Dessie was the oldest child and for the next several years she helped her father, James William “Will” Thomas, raise her younger siblings. I remember her being especially close to her youngest two siblings. “Verdie,” who was actually Verda Leola Thomas was five when their mother died and Theo Melvin “Bud” Thomas was only two at the time of their mother’s death.
Verdie is an obvious nickname for Verda. However, I have no idea how Theo became Bud. He used his initials in most business dealings and Bud the remainder of the time. He was the postmaster at Hiattville; thus, known by many people in the area. Yet, I imagine there were plenty of people in the neighborhood that never had any idea that his real name was Theo.
Theo Confusion
Theo is an obvious nickname for Theodore. However, it seemed that his name was officially Theo with the exception of the Social Security Administration and an article about his marriage to Ida (Louise) Hanson, that stated his name was Theodore. Now, I would believe a social security record over the census and other records. However, his draft registration for WWII lists his official name as Theo. So, which was it?
He went by Bud, his wife used her middle name of Louise, his son James went by Jimmie and his daughter Leola Mae was called Tillie. Again, I have no idea how Leola Mae became Tillie.
In the next generation, all of the children of Jimmie Lee and his wife Sandy, another nickname, had nicknames. One who lived only about a month was nicknamed “Buddy.” Can’t guess where they got that name!
This family sure liked nicknames!