This week in Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, the prompt is “Same Name”.
My father-in-law, William, was apparently named for his great uncle William Keetley according to some writing in his baby book about why he was given his particular name. The writing was placed there by his mother, Helen (Legare) Keetley. A picture of that writing can be seen below.
Did Helen mean “great” or “grand” uncle? Those terms have been recently debated on Facebook as to which is the correct phrase for which generation.
If she was referring to “grand”, what I would have incorrectly called “great” up until a few years ago, she would have been referencing a sibling of William’s grandfather.
If she was referring to “great”, she would have been referencing a sibling to William’s great grandfather.
I know of no connection to a William Keetley in this family. My father-in-law’s grandfather was Jesse and he is the only one that I have knowledge of so far. I do not know who his parents or siblings were.
Considering she wrote “Uncle” William first, and then corrected it to “Great” uncle, I am thinking that she was leaning towards a sibling of her father-in-law. Then she realized that she was supposed to be writing this from her son’s point of view, and corrected herself.
Unfortunately I have no idea what she actually meant, but it gives me hope that I can find a William Keetley somewhere in South Carolina, giving me new leads on this record-scarce family!
Last year I wrote about a possible family for Jesse (you can read about them here!). There was a William listed in that family so maybe that is a path to investigate next.
My next step would probably be to research that family a little more, and see if there are any connections to them in William’s DNA matches.
I am hoping for a breakthrough on this line this year!!
