Middle names, also known as second given names, tend to be shrouded in mystery a lot of the time. This happens because they don’t really serve much purpose, at least in the United States, unless of course you’ve committed murder. In that event, as you might well be aware, a murderer’s full legal name is printed up in all the papers to help distinguish them from other persons who share the first and last names. It also comes in handy differentiating yourself from a terrorist who has found their name plastered on the “no fly” list. But aside from those rare and uncommon occurrences, middle names do not tend to be well known, even amongst close friends or family at times.
Week 39: Steps
Ethel (Hinman) Eggenberger, ca. 5 Feb 1930.
This was certainly the case for Ethel Hinman, my paternal great grandmother. When I first began researching my family history, I had no sources that recorded her middle name. And both my father and aunt (her grandchildren) were not aware of what her middle name could have been.
As a child, her U.S. federal census records, stated her name was Ethel Hinman. As a married adult, they switched to Ethel Eggenberger, save for the 1920 census which listed her as Ethel E. Eggenberger.
Now, was this a mistake? The Iowa and Kansas state censuses also all listed her as either Ethel Hinman or Ethel Eggenberger, depending on her age and marital status. Was the middle initial “E” a correct addition on the 1920 federal census? Or an erroneous error?
1920 U.S. federal census, Ottawa Ward 1, Franklin, Kansas, Enum. District 92, J.C. Eggenberger household, p. 19B; digital images, Ancestry (https://ancestry.com : accessed 4 Nov 2021); NARA roll T625_532.
Considering the census enumerator included the correct middle initials for the rest of the family, based on what I knew of them, I was inclined to believe this was my first hint that Ethel was indeed given a second name by her parents at birth and that it began with the letter “E.” Either that, or she had previously been married to a man with a surname beginning with “E,” but I had no reason to assume the latter. Armed with this new information, I went to work at uncovering her middle name!
I first glanced over Ethel’s family tree to see if any names beginning with “E” already appeared in her mother or father’s families. Nothing stood out, aside from her maternal great grandmother being named Elizabeth. It was a possibility, but nothing definitive. Unfortunately, her mother Margaret’s middle name is also a mystery! It’s quite possible her mother was never given one. That will have to be a future research project to find out.
Then, I turned to an uncommon record group. Ethel happened to be a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Her chapter was based in Kansas, and as a prospective member myself, I was aware that to gain membership, an extensive application form had to be submitted to the organization detailing the alleged descendancy from your patriot ancestor on down to yourself. I knew that each line item of the application requested the full name, birth, date, and marriage information for each generation. It occurred to me early on that this would likely be the easiest way to uncover Ethel’s middle name, by retrieving a copy of her original application, where she would have been required to report it! And I’d have no questions to its legitimacy, knowing full well she would have filled out the application herself.
And yet, when the photocopy arrived in the mail and I peeled the envelope open, I was only met with utter regret – and a feeling of betrayal! For my dear Ethel had slyly inserted her maiden name of Hinman into the middle name slot. I was beside myself. Why was she so seemingly intent on masking her middle name? The form clearly asked for her middle name in one field and her maiden name in another field, and despite a genealogist’s usual attention to detail in matters such as this, she purposefully disregarded the requirements. Scanning over the rest of her application, you’d consider this woman very meticulous. But she made a glaring mistake.
Ethel (Hinman) Eggenberger, Kansas, Ottawa, DAR application.
Lucky for me, she wasn’t the only relative of mine to be interested in family history. Her daughter, Vera, also joined the Edward Hand chapter in Kansas. So, I took another chance at ordering Vera’s DAR application as well. And lo and behold, she exposed her mother’s secret! Vera’s form listed her mother’s full name as Ethel Eulala Hinman. EULALA! Her middle name was Eulala!
No wonder Ethel had dodged giving her middle name on forms her whole life. It definitely isn’t your standard name. But I couldn’t take Vera’s one and only account as fact without some sort of corroborating evidence, so I had to dig deeper and seek out lesser-known resources that would verify.
With another stroke of luck, Ethel Eggenberger appeared on the Social Security Death Index following her 1963 passing in California. This meant she had likely applied for a social security number at some point in her life. The reason why this is important is because the government application (SS-5) required a middle name be populated. However, it also allowed for a caveat; if you did not have a middle name, you could cross out the field. Of course, I was hoping Ethel would not opt out given the chance. But what’s even better is they required another field be populated with one’s “full name given [you] at birth.” So I figured I had two chances for Ethel to reveal her secret.
In fact, Ethel’s arm was twisted! She did enter Eulala in both fields afterall, but even crossed it out in the first field – giving more credence to the idea that she loathed this name!
Ethel Eulala (Hinman) Eggenberger, 2 Nov 1942, Huntington Beach, California, social security number application.
This is a perfect example of how taking small, simple steps can eventually lead to answers! I made sure to analyze each individual record I had in my possession, question its origination, and ask myself logically where might I find complementary material. In the end, I was able to make a reasonable conclusion about why this name had been lost to history and needed to be resurrected.
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