Friday, November 27, 2009

The Cary Family of Brockton, MA

After my post on Bible names with trend potential, commenter Heather Rojo sent me on a quest to find colonial New Englanders named Vashti. Result: there are way more of them than I would have expected.

While poking around, I found the Cary family of Brockton, MA. What a fantastically eclectic group of names! Here is a sampling from their family entry in the Vital Records of Brockton, MA:

  • Almira, b. 1812, dau. of Barzillai and Vashti
  • Alpheus, b. 1761, son of Jonathan
  • Aurelia, b. 1799, dau. of Jonathan
  • Austin, b. 1809, son of Jonathan
  • Avey, b. 1797, dau. of Daniel
  • Barzillai, b. 1780, son of Moses
  • Bethuel, b. 1744, son of Zachariah
  • Betsey, b. 1810, dau. of Barzillai and Vashti
  • Caleb, b. 1788, son of Jonathan
  • Cassandra, b. 1788, dau. of Moses
  • Damaris, b. 1767, dau. of Simeon
  • Daniel, b. 1758, son of Zachariah
  • Dorothy, b. 1753, dau. of Jonathan
  • Elbridge, b. 1801, son of Howard
  • Eliza, b. 1812, dau. of Daniel and Martha
  • Eunice, b. 1781, dau. of Daniel
  • Ezra, b. 1749, son of Zachariah
  • Francis, b. 1785, son of Daniel
  • George, b. (or d.?) 1831
  • Howard, b. 1818, son of Daniel and Martha
  • Huldah, b. 1755, dau. of Jonathan
  • James, b. 1766, son of Jonathan
  • Jonathan, b. 1746, son of Zachariah and Susanna
  • Lucius, b. 1776, son of Moses
  • Luther, b. 1777, son of Ezra
  • Lydia, b. 1801, dau. of James
  • Martha, b. 1765, dau. of Simeon and Mary
  • Martin, b. 1795, son of Jonathan
  • Mary, b. 1750, dau. of Jonathan
  • Mehitabel, b. 1752, dau. of Zachariah
  • Molly, b. 1755, dau. of Simeon
  • Moses, b. 1748, son of Jonathan
  • Nabby, b. 1786, dau. of Jonathan
  • Nancy, b. 1786, dau. of Jonathan
  • Nathan, b. 1817, son of Barzillai and Vashti
  • Olive, b. 1783, dau. of Daniel
  • Otis, b. 1804, son of James
  • Polly, b. 1788, dau. of Howard
  • Rhoda, b. 1794, dau. of Howard
  • Sally, b. 1792, dau. of Jonathan
  • Simeon, b. 1787, son of Howard
  • Susanna, b. 1783, dau. of Moses
  • Thomas, b. 1771, son of Ezra
  • Vesta, b. 1827, dau. of Barzillai and Vashti
  • William, b. 1797, son of Howard
  • Zechariah, b. 1773, son of Daniel
  • Zenas, b. 1792, son of Howard
  • Ziba, b. 1805, son of Howard
  • Zibiah, b. 1779, dau. of Daniel
They're 6 letters short of an alphabet game.

*I should note that these birthdates are based on baptismal records and are, therefore, inexact — I just didn't take the time to reconcile the two. They're close enough for my purposes here.

3 comments:

Heather Wilkinson Rojo said...

Wow! And I thought Vashti was extremely rare and exotic sounding. Most of my Vashti's are from Essex County for example a Smith from Topsfield.

Caitlin GD Hopkins said...

You're right, it is pretty rare. It's just that I was expecting none, so two dozen or so seemed like a lot!

Anonymous said...

I love the name Vashti. I found five in my genealogy. My 4th gr. grandmother, Vashti (Thayer) Hunt, her daughter Vashti (Hunt)Thurston Gates and her daughter, Vashti Gates, and another Vashti Gates, the daughter of Nancy Hunt Gates daughter of Vashti (Thayer) Hunt. Then unrelated to them on a different branch I found Vashti Willis, my 5th gr.aunt.