Random

[nightdog_barks]

Granville Stanley Hall, who lied about, among other things, his age, appears to have been born in 1844, in the small town of Ashfield, Massachusetts. His father, a farmer, was descended from Plymouth Colony's William Brewster, a Pilgrim who named one of his sons Wrestling, short for "wrestling with God."

~ Jill Lepore
From "Twilight: Growing old and even older," American Chronicles
The New Yorker, March 14th, 2011

Comments

[black_cigarette]

That is ... kind of awesome.

[nightdog_barks]

*g*

The writers for The New Yorker come up with the most wonderful factoids ever. I had heard of children being named things like Patience and Bounteous and Perseverance, but never Wrestling.

[takes_a_fairy]

Some of those names are truly astounding. How do you find all the interesting nuggets you always share? Lol

[nightdog_barks]

:-D

[perspi]

THAT! IS! AWESOME!

[nightdog_barks]

I thought it was pretty cool. :-D

[taiga13]

No one ever confused him for someone else! I recall reading in a historical novel that it was fashionable for a period (I can't remember the date) to name children after Bibical passages. A character was named O Be Joyful.

[nightdog_barks]

Heh, I like that! O Be Joyful is a great name. *g*

[namaste]

One of the moments out of Michigan History is the so-called "Toledo War," when Ohio was given the small strip of land that included Toledo when Ohio became a state. That piece of land was originally part of Michigan territory, but hey, all's fair in love and politics. (And it's the reason why Michigan has a ragged southern border.)

Anyway, one of the major shouters in all this was a man called Benjamin Stickney. And his sons. One Stickney and Two Stickney. (His younger son Three Stickney isn't mentioned as often for some reason.)

The only fatality of the Toledo war was a horse. The only human blood drawn was when Two Stickney jabbed a deputy with a penknife.

No, seriously.

[nightdog_barks]

WHO NEEDS THAT PESKY SPRITE IMAGINATION WHEN YOU'RE NAMING YOUR KIDS????

Heh! That is awesome. It reminds me of when I was doing some research a while back and ran across the Republic of West Florida, although I think Toledo Strip has a little more zip to it. *g*

[namaste]

His daughters, by the way, were -- with one exception (supposedly his wife putting her foot down) -- named after states: Virginia, Maryland, Carolina. (Shame he didn't have twin daughters. North and South Carolina have a nice ring to it.)

You know what's even crazier than the Toledo War? The fact that a guy at work who is an extreme University of Michigan fan, allows for a hatred of Ohio State so severe that last month he was still arguing about how the entire state sucks because of the Toledo Strip.

[shakes head]Dude.[/shakes head]

[namaste]

I mentioned said UM fan's ravings to my editor in Akron (Ohio).

"I've been to Toledo," he says. "Tell Phil he can have it back."