25 October 2012

Jasper Newton's Not One Person

Have you encountered an ancestor named Jasper Newton Smith, Jasper Newton Lake, Jasper Newton Jones in your research? Chances are that ancestor was named for not one, but two, American Revolutionary War heroes. This link has more information for those who have encountered Jasper Newton in their own research.

Never assume that an "unusual" name means your ancestor was actually related to the person with that name.

2 comments:

  1. I have a Jasper Newton Spurlock, b 1853, d 1855, in Louisiana; his parents, my 2nd great-grandparents, were born in Georgia. I have never been able to figure out where the name came from; perhaps this is the answer!

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  2. It could very well be Denise. My wife's relative was a Jasper Newton Lake, born around the same time frame in Missouri. There's no connection between that family and Jaspers or Newtons, so I'm surmising that he was named for the Revoltionary heroes--either directly or indirectly.

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