Same Name

52 Ancestors in 52 weeks...

I am a little out of sequence here, but onward, etc.!!

The theme of 'Same Name' is one I have written about before, (see here) Germans tended to give the name of a deceased child to the next one born with the correct gender.  A nightmare for a family historian!  At other times it seemed as though there were only a few carefully chosen names used in a population and everyone had one of the 4 or 5 names - Aackk!!!

Even my own name, Kathryn, seemed to appear fairly often.  Here are a few of my favorite Kathy's...

Perhaps my favorite ancestress who shares a name with me actually shares the whole name.
Catherine Gates, whose father started out as Henry Getz and founded the village of Gatesburg PA, is my 4th great grandmother.  Of course my maiden name is Kiehn and not Gates, but it is a fun fact to pull out when starting a discussion about the family history!  It also has the advantage of making my kids cringe when I tell them "your dad and I could be related!"  I haven't found a connection - for the record. Catherine lived from 1786 to 1832 and married George Kohlmeyer.  She was one of the 17 surviving children of her father who was a Revolutionary War Veteran.

Undoubtedly my most frustrating Cathryn is the one who married Alexander Viles, lived from 1814 to 1852 and whose last name I have not been able to trace.  She died during the migration of the family from Tennessee to Missouri during a short stay in Illinois. She is one of my "brick walls".  Every Viles tree I have run across has a shortened branch at her name...someday!

Catharina Margaretha Bender was born in 1718 in Germany, packed up her family and moved to the Volga River valley in Russia in the 1760's.  This was a horribly difficult trip, part by ship and part by covered wagon, the first years were disastrous and many died.  She is my 6th great grandmother.  Her great grandson will marry...

Katharina Misskampf who was born in 1807 in Kolb Russia, one of the German-Russian colonies along the Volga.  Her daughter ....

Mary Kathryn Schreiner is the only one of my ancestresses who spells their name as I do!  Born in 1850 in Kolb Russia she will watch her daughter leave all of her family behind and take part in another great migration, this time to America, with thousands of other "Volga Germans" aka "Germans from Russia".

Katharina Margaretha Hoffman is living in the next town over, born in 1853, her son George will marry a girl from the village of Kolb Russia daughter of Mary Kathryn Schreiner and she too will watch her son and his family leave all behind and immigrate to America.

My parents had no idea about these ladies when they gave me my name years ago, but it was fun to find my name among these brave women who were part of these amazing migrations, difficult times, and historic events.