Featured Question for the Genealogy Researchers

Jane > Janie > Jeanie. My mother's name was Jane. They intended to call me Jan to avoid confusion, but when signing the birth certificate she couldn't help slipping the e on the end of my name. I was called Jan while growing up, my brother often calling me Janie (pronounced with a short a) - which I hated. I chose to reclaim Jane when I started college, and learned that it is a name that has had a long history on both sides of the family.

 

I searched for more information about the Jane Angus who lived in Maine, that Debora found. She was born Margaret J. Meek (or Meeks) in 1837 or 1838 in Maine. Since she was listed as Jane in some census records, I assume her middle name was Jane. I haven't found her parents' names.

John Angus and Margaret I.[sic] Meeks were married in 1854, per marriage record abstracts found in Ancestry dot com. They had at least two children, both daughters. Anna E., born about 1858, and Ada, born about 1865. Ada later married Horace W. Snow.

John died in 1893 and Margaret/Jane died in 1898. So, she is a possibility, date wise. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/235006736/margaret_j-angus

Since Jane was her middle name, I don't know how the middle initial on the labels fits in. By the way, that middle initial looks like it could actually be an R. There is a small "tail" coming down on both labels that could be the downstroke for an R. But not certain of that.

Find A Grave has about 10-15 entries for women named Jane Angus, born before 1900 and buried in the United States. A few of them are their birth names, and most are married surnames. The memorial mentioned above is under Margaret J Angus.

This is not really helping you identify the right person, though. I'll give it more thought. Wouldn't trust AI, either. It's good for well-known people, and sometimes the not so well known. But there has to be something online about the person in a free website in order to find anything useful. It's good for general historical topics, as long as it's read with a critical eye, expecting some errors.

 

I forgot to mention, John and Jane Angus may have moved to Massachusetts sometime between 1880 and their deaths. They are both buried in Salem, Massachusetts along with their daughter Ada and her husband. It appears to be a cemetery where other members of the Snow family were buried -- Ada's husband's family.

 

My great-grandmother went by Mamie and said her real name was Marie. Her baptismal records say her name was Anna Maria Magdalena. Her mother, btw, was named Magdalena. Either Mom's first name was Anna too, there were a pile of Annas around, or she just didn't like the name. I'd bet Jane did the same thing for similar reasons.

 

Hmm. The plot thickens. The birth date matches what Debora found in the census records - age 23 in 1860. But she also found records saying Jane married a lawyer. When I asked AI yesterday about a Jane P. Angus in Maine with possible date of birth 1837-1838 married to a lawyer, it came up with William Angus as the husband, rather than John.

In the meantime I have sent a message to the Bangor Historical Society to see if they might have any information about Mr. and Mrs. Angus that would indicate travel to Africa.

I also asked the ebay seller if she had any more information, but could only say she got the baskets at a local flea market and that seller was not forthcoming.

 

With further poking, AI responded -
"The initial census record indexing for "John Angus" as the husband was actually a transcription error for William Angus, who was a practicing attorney in 19th-century Maine."
I think it is trying to please me. So much for AI helping with genealogy.

 

Think this might have something to do with German naming patterns. They're a thing.

Debora

 

Sure are, on both sides of my family for starters.

 

You didn't mention, but I assume you searched, or wouldn't know why "lawyer" doesn't match... the census in Maine in 1860 says John Angus was a Cordwainer and in 1870 it says a Laborer.

There is no William Angus in Maine in 1860 or 1870. And there is no other Jane Angus in those census records besides the one I found. However, I was looking for only the correct spelling of Angus. Could do more later, but right now am missing the beginning of an online lecture I wanted to watch. Later!

@Debora , what's the source for the occupation of lawyer for Jane's husband? I don't have time right now to look at what you might have written earlier in this thread.

 

I found that too. But think another John Angus. The "lawyer" occupation comes from the 1870 census.

Debora

 

This is why I have posed the original question to those of you who know better how to navigate the genealogy stuff than I do! Thank you to you both, because I am out of my depth.

 

Always happy to help.

Debora

 

Yes, in many cases you can disregard the first name, which is usually Maria for girls (for protection from the mother of Jesus). The second name is the one that distinguishes the girl from all the other Maria's in her family, and that would be regarded as her actual name.

Several German naming customs are explained here:

https://familytreemagazine.com/heritage/german/german-naming-traditions/

 

Lots of boys had Maria as a middle name, IIRC. John Wayne's real first name was Marion, the English version of Maria with the male spelling.

 

Like the German composer Carl Maria von Weber.

Debora

 

One of my fellow theology students was called Willem Marie. You couldn't just say Willem, it had to be Willem Marie. Apparently his aunt Marie died just before he was born, and his parents decided to name the child Marie, in honour of their beloved sister (in-law). The child turned out to be a boy, so it was Willem Marie.
It never affected him, fortunately, and he turned out fine. He is now a professor at our old faculty.

 

I'd imagine there are lots of Willems around, so using the middle name too only makes sense.

 

Thanks for this! I went back and I see that I was looking at the Ancestry transcript for his occupation in 1870. They said Laborer. That is definitely not what the image says. So, my bad!

Looking at the original image, the writing originally looks like "Taner" or "Tawer" or "Laner" or "Lawer." Then in different handwriting, squeezed in above that, somebody wrote "Lawyer" or "Sawyer" (one who works in a sawmill). So I could go with Lawyer, although 1860 definitely shows it as Cordwainer (worker in leather), and 1880 in Beverly, Essex Co., Massachusetts shows his occupation as "Work in morocco shop" -- at that time, "morocco" was often used to refer to a type of leather. Looking back at 1870 again, one interpretation of the original handwriting is "Taner," which could have meant "Tanner" -- that would fit with the other leather working he did. However, I'd say Lawyer is fine.

@2manybooks , I hope you hear back from the Bangor Historical Society!

 

Ah, the challenges of paleography! I have not heard from Bangor, yet. They probably have to find a volunteer to comb through obscure records.
Thinking about it, if Mr. Angus was a tanner, and worked with Moroccan leather (fine, vegetable tanned goat leather), it might explain an African connection. I wonder if he was an importer.