#52 Ancestors - Week 15 - How Do You Spell That?

Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small has a weekly challenge to write the stories of your ancestors. This is week #15 and the suggested theme is HOW DO YOU SPELL THAT?  I am highlighting my grandfather - Donald Sargent.

You might think that I would choose one of the many German names where it seems they use as many letters as possible in surname. Names like Rauschenbusch, Pfannebecker, Schutterhelm, and Strietelmeier. And then on top of that they also pile on the given names so I have Anna Catherine Gertrude Hartbeken, Maria Whilhelmina Katharina Gershmier and William Henry Harrison Rhodenbeck. But I really never had too much of a problem with these names.

But one of the more interesting stories I have about a name is that of my paternal grandfather. It doesn't really involve spelling but determining his legal name. II always thought that his name was Donald Sargent. That was the only thing I had ever seen or heard and I had no reason to question it. I knew that he was born April 6, 1888, but when I started researching my family, I was suddenly presented with some other possibilities for his given name.

The first place I found him is in the 1900 census in McCameron Township, Martin County, Indiana. His father had died two years prior and his mother is head of household. Here he is listed as Thomas Sargent. Did the census taker get it wrong? It wouldn't be the first time.

1900 Census - McCameron Township, Martin Co., IN
son Thomas b. Apr 1888

Then in 1909 there are two examples with his  name as "Donal" without the "d" on the end. The first is a post card from his wife-to-be in November of 1909 addressed to Donal. I thought perhaps this was just her unique way of addressing him.

Post card from Bertha Houchin to Donald Sargent
postmarked from Evansville, IN, Nov. 2, 1909

But then he used that same version when he signs his application for their marriage license as "Donal".

Signature read - Donal Sargent
on marriage license application December 1909

The next time I find his name is on his certificate that shows he has been licensed to become a coal miner in 1911.  After my father died I found this certificate still in the wallet that Donald had at the time of his death in 1957.

Signature reads - Donald Sargent
1911 Miner Certificate

So far we have Thomas, Donal, and Donald as my grandfather's first name. Then comes the World War I Draft Registration card.  Here we have Thomas "McDonald" Sargent.

Signature reads - Thomas Mcdonald Sargent
from World War I draft registration form 1918

What? "McDonald"? When I found this entry I called my Dad and asked him if he had ever heard his father referred to as "Thomas McDonald".  He said no. My aunt, however, said she vaguely remembered that he was named after a family that lived nearby and that he didn't like his name.  So I searched the McCameron Township census for a a McDonald family. Nope - there just weren't any. And that was the end of the story - until I got a subscription to newspaperarchive.com.  That is when I found out that Donald's father had become active in the Republican party and ran for sheriff of Martin County. As I was searching the local newspaper for articles about whether he was elected I decided to search for McDonald in the Martin County Tribune.

What I found was an ad for a McDonald Huff, a lawyer in Martin County who lived in Keck's Church where Donald's father had been post master.  Back to the 1880 census and I found a Huff family, only three families separated the Sargent and Huff farms. There was no McDonald listed but a little more searching and I discovered that his name was James McDonald Huff and he was also a Republican who later became a judge. I can't be sure that this is who Donald was named after but he is the most likely candidate.

All the other census records after 1900 list my grandfather as Donald Sargent. In 1941 he got a birth certificate. Indiana did not have statewide birth registrations until 1907.  I don't know what information was provided but on this document he is "Donald Sargent". And that is the only name I have found him using after that time.