Yeah, I know it means "Out of many, one." But the context in which I saw this today about blew me away. You see, this is more than a motto for one lucky American woman, this was her name: Epluribus Unum Dillard Sudduth.
I don't know about you, but I can't even imagine what would lead parents to name their child in such a way. And since this person was born in 1863 Texas, you have to wonder what their motive was. But there you are, this was a real person born in 1863 and died in 1932.
I am a weird name collector. This is something I've been doing since my second job, which was as a clerk in the medical records department of a local hospital. It's fascinating, when you are a genealogist, to see naming patterns in families, but some naming patterns are just bad.
For instance there were the Setter sisters, English and Irish. Look, mom & dad, don't name your children after dogs! Then again, not being present at the birth of these two lovelies, maybe the names were appropriate.
And why would anyone in their right mind name their daughter Chanda Lear. Don't they realize the ribbing that child will take?
Even my own family, thankfully many times removed from the present, are guilty with Pleasant Chinn and Dimple Chinn. Ok, those can even be considered cute. And I'm thinking the parents of Napoleon Bonnieparts Logsdon just didn't know how to spell it. And Arizona Dove Carpenter was the mother of General Curtis LeMay (Bombs away LeMay), how did she deal with her name?
I guess people making up names for their children is not new and there is a trend now to name your child something unique, but maybe this trend isn't so new after all.
I'll close now with just a few more, sent by a friend: Pryor Breeding, Preserved Smith, and Fanny Rash. After that, what else can you say?
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
Voice Mail Lady
As stated in an earlier post, we have Charter cable, internet and phone. Not long after we were assigned our phone number, we received a series of wrong numbers. All from the same number! This number had us scrambling to figure out who the he!! kept calling us and not leaving a message.
One day, after several attempts by the wrong number the following message was left on our voice mail:
In a southern drawl, "Sorry, I keep dialing the wrong number to retrieve my voice mails. I hope that hasn't inconvenienced you. It seems that our numbers are sequential and I keep dialing yours by mistake. I thought I'd let you know why you have so many hangups."
DH and I are thinking "Is this woman for real?" Our caller ID reveals that this is not true, her number ends in 1 and ours in 4.
A couple of weeks passed and we feel that Voice Mail Lady has finally gotten a handle on her phone number. Yay.
Not so fast. A few days later VML left this message on our voice mail:
"You have reached Voice Mail Lady. Please leave your name, number and a brief message and I will return your call as soon as possible."
When DH and I picked our selves up off the floor and I wiped the tears of laughter from my eyes, we wondered why she left an outgoing message on our voice mail after hearing our outgoing message.
It's now been ten months since we moved here and ten months of mostly hangups when VML realizes she's called our number yet again. Sometimes, however, we pick up and actually get to talk to VML. She still thinks our number and her number are sequential, but I haven't the heart to disillusion her. Fortunately, I guess, she no longer leaves outgoing messages on our voice mail. I think she is no longer that technically challenged. We'll have to find another unsuspecting soul to entertain us!
One day, after several attempts by the wrong number the following message was left on our voice mail:
In a southern drawl, "Sorry, I keep dialing the wrong number to retrieve my voice mails. I hope that hasn't inconvenienced you. It seems that our numbers are sequential and I keep dialing yours by mistake. I thought I'd let you know why you have so many hangups."
DH and I are thinking "Is this woman for real?" Our caller ID reveals that this is not true, her number ends in 1 and ours in 4.
A couple of weeks passed and we feel that Voice Mail Lady has finally gotten a handle on her phone number. Yay.
Not so fast. A few days later VML left this message on our voice mail:
"You have reached Voice Mail Lady. Please leave your name, number and a brief message and I will return your call as soon as possible."
When DH and I picked our selves up off the floor and I wiped the tears of laughter from my eyes, we wondered why she left an outgoing message on our voice mail after hearing our outgoing message.
It's now been ten months since we moved here and ten months of mostly hangups when VML realizes she's called our number yet again. Sometimes, however, we pick up and actually get to talk to VML. She still thinks our number and her number are sequential, but I haven't the heart to disillusion her. Fortunately, I guess, she no longer leaves outgoing messages on our voice mail. I think she is no longer that technically challenged. We'll have to find another unsuspecting soul to entertain us!
Blogger in Disguise
No, I really don't have a mustache*. Long story about the Groucho glasses.
Many years ago, some friends and I were taking our semi-annual trip to the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. For you non-genealogists, that library has a huge genealogy collection, second or third to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Since my chances of ever making that trip to Salt Lake City seem to dwindle as the years go by, I try to avail myself of the resources at hand. When we lived in Michigan, that trip to Fort Wayne was just a little over 3 hours and for several years, the twice yearly trip was well-planned and eagerly embarked upon.
One year, we discovered that one of the local genealogical societies would be making a one day trip there during our stay. Since we were familiar with many of the members of that tour, and hoping to avoid recognition (snicker) I bought some sets of Groucho glasses/nose/mustache and passed them out to my co-conspirators .. er .. fellow researchers.
Yes, we played hard on our trips, but we also researched like crazy. I still have my glasses. Maybe it's time to take another trip to Fort Wayne!
*The avatar was created using Portrait Illustration Maker.
Many years ago, some friends and I were taking our semi-annual trip to the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. For you non-genealogists, that library has a huge genealogy collection, second or third to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Since my chances of ever making that trip to Salt Lake City seem to dwindle as the years go by, I try to avail myself of the resources at hand. When we lived in Michigan, that trip to Fort Wayne was just a little over 3 hours and for several years, the twice yearly trip was well-planned and eagerly embarked upon.
One year, we discovered that one of the local genealogical societies would be making a one day trip there during our stay. Since we were familiar with many of the members of that tour, and hoping to avoid recognition (snicker) I bought some sets of Groucho glasses/nose/mustache and passed them out to my co-conspirators .. er .. fellow researchers.
Yes, we played hard on our trips, but we also researched like crazy. I still have my glasses. Maybe it's time to take another trip to Fort Wayne!
*The avatar was created using Portrait Illustration Maker.
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