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ArchivesOrigins of two names in my family tree
In researching my family tree, I have discovered two names, both of women, that might possibly be Jewish. One is the name Margaret Lenthal, or Lenthall, born in England about 1640. The other name is Elizabeth Frum, born in Philadelphia, Virginia in 1796 and died in 1875 in Stark County, Illinois. Margaret married Samuel Hall in Perquimans Co, North Carolina in 1656, and Elizabeth married Pierre Ferbrache in 1817 in Muskingum Co, Ohio. Pierre Ferbrache emigrated from Guernsey in the Channel Islands, and would probably have been Catholic, and Samuel Hall was a Quaker, so if these women were Jewish, they would have been cut off from their families. Indeed, my great-great-grandfather married Elizabeth's daughter, and was discharged two days later from his Quaker meeting for it. This would make these two marriages a true love match, and I would very much like to know the truth of the matter. Any help would be very much appreciated.
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I'm working on the Reaughs in my family line, do you know
anything about your background or your husbands if that is
where the name came from? I have a James Milton Reaugh b.1819 m. Melissa Orton. They had a big family but that's as far as I go.
anything about your background or your husbands if that is
where the name came from? I have a James Milton Reaugh b.1819 m. Melissa Orton. They had a big family but that's as far as I go.
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I have to start by stating that, for a variety of reasons, I think it unlikely that either of these two ladies was Jewish. Margaret Lenthall, born England, c.1640, when the number of Jews in England was, officially, zero. Her surname comes from Leinthall in Herefordshire. The surname is on record in England, as Lentale, in 1369.
Elizabeth Frum, born Virginia 1796, has a Jewish sounding name, but it might as easily be an American spelling of a German name. A lot of "Pennsylvania Dutch" names are Americanised in this way, I believe. Pre-revolutionary German settlers tend to have their names changed, e.g., Eisenhower for Eisenhauer. So why not Frum for a German (and Christian) Fromm? Anyway few European Jews had hereditary surnames in the 18th century. If they needed a second name it would usually be the father's name, e.g., Moses Jacob. Frum/Fromm is descriptive, and means "pious".
The people of the Channel Isles are traditionally Protestant rather than Catholic, by the way. And I suspect that Samuel Hall might have been expelled merely for marrying a non-Quaker, but that's just a guess.
Elizabeth Frum, born Virginia 1796, has a Jewish sounding name, but it might as easily be an American spelling of a German name. A lot of "Pennsylvania Dutch" names are Americanised in this way, I believe. Pre-revolutionary German settlers tend to have their names changed, e.g., Eisenhower for Eisenhauer. So why not Frum for a German (and Christian) Fromm? Anyway few European Jews had hereditary surnames in the 18th century. If they needed a second name it would usually be the father's name, e.g., Moses Jacob. Frum/Fromm is descriptive, and means "pious".
The people of the Channel Isles are traditionally Protestant rather than Catholic, by the way. And I suspect that Samuel Hall might have been expelled merely for marrying a non-Quaker, but that's just a guess.
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