Nope, that’s not Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice! But it seems fitting that this is the THIRD week of the 52 Ancestors project, and you would shout his similarly sounding name THREE times to resurrect him, and I have THREE generations all named Beatrice! Perfect for a rant on namesakes.
Week 3: Namesake
Naming patterns tend to be seen as both a blessing and a curse in family history. Sure, it’s a fairly easy tool to use as a generational link between father and son -- especially when their records diligently record whether they’re the I, II, or III of that namesake, however, it also introduces a common hurdle of separating and identifying (wo)men of the same name.
Luckily for me, there’s one string of my family members who are named for each other who are close enough to me in the tree that there’s no question as to each of their identities. The namesake spans three confirmed non-consecutive generations, dating back to at least January 4th, 1861. That’s when my 2nd great grandmother was born in Waynesburg, Greene County, Pennsylvania as Elizabeth Beatrice Rockwell.
Nathan and Elizabeth Dixon, circa 1900, West Virginia, tintype privately held by descendant Kira D. Foltz
“Lizzie,” as she was affectionately called, was said to be a hard-working woman who even acted as the real manager of her husband Nathan Dixon’s farm, as he was said to be very lazy. The couple had 9 children, 5 of which were girls. To her youngest daughter, born 21 March 1899 in Wadestown, Monongalia, West Virginia, she passed down her middle name of Beatrice, naming her little girl, Beatrice Bethel Dixon.
Beatrice Bethel Dixon, circa 1908, West Virginia, photo privately held by descendant Kira D. Foltz.
Beatrice was my great grandmother. When she began having grandkids, she took on the nickname “Mamu.” And one of her grandkids, my mother, inherited the Beatrice name. My mother was born Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia in 1955 as Beatrice Anna Millhouse. And now that my mom has become a grandmother herself, she has taken on her grandmother’s moniker of “Mamu” as well.
Frances, Edna, and Beatrice Millhouse from left to right, 25 December 1959, California, photo privately held by descendant Kira D. Foltz.
I wonder whether all three of these generations actually disliked the Beatrice badge, as my mom also adopted a nickname, “Beann” -- a combination of her first and middle names. So, it seems all 3 women never went by Beatrice, which is a bit disappointing to me, as I actually quite like the name. It sounds very Victorian to me. I know my mom would say, “Yeah, it sounds old.” Ha! In any case, I think it’s beautiful and respectful to see a unique name pass down through the tree, even if it skips a generation or so and gets resurrected later on.
I do question the original use of the name Beatrice. Was Elizabeth truly the first to kick off the tradition in the 1860s? Or can we look further back for its origin? Interestingly enough, her mother was also named Elizabeth -- we only know her full name to be Elizabeth Pitcock. We do not know if she was given a middle name at all, but if she was, was it perchance Beatrice? Her grandmother was also named Elizabeth, and we don’t have a middle name for her either. Wouldn’t it be amazing to find out the pattern stretches all the way back into the mid 18th century? Maybe only time will reveal the roots and reasons behind the title of Beatrice.
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