If a document lists a person as Jeremiah Junior does that necessarily mean their father is also Jeremiah?

+6 votes
159 views
in Genealogy Help by Anne Burnham G2G6 (8.3k points)
retagged by Ellen Smith
Not always.  It depends on the  family, the time frame, and the location.
In a close working relationship it could also be an uncle.
It could be grandfather--grandson.   In a town where there are several with the same name, they may not even be closely related, if related at all.
I have a few ancestors who have the sr/jr uncle/nephew dynamic in their families, the time frame is very important here.

1 Answer

+4 votes
In more recent time frames such as after 1950, it seems to be more likely that families, and thus also those who record them, will go Sr. Jr, III, IV etc.

But in older times such as early census records, John Brown Sr. and John Brown Jr might not even be related, as Melanie pointed out.  It would just indicate that John Brown Sr is older than John Brown Jr.  However, by the next enumeration 10 years later, John Brown Sr may have passed away.  I have definitely seen situations where the person called Jr might now be Sr, if a younger 'John Brown' has come of age to be enumerated.  I haven't seen a situation where a newcomer to town was older and took the vacated Sr designation, but it is possible.  In the earlier times, the Sr and Jr just helped sort out residents of the same name.  It might coincidentally place them in their family trees as well, but that was not the intention on the census.

Memorial stones might be another matter -- i haven't really been noticing.

Cheers

Shirlea
by Shirlea Smith G2G6 Pilot (279k points)
Thank you to all who replied to my question. I find your answers very helpful and they give me better perspective.

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