Question of the Week: Has something been named after someone in your family? [closed]

Question

Has something been named after someone in your family? Tell us about it with an answer below. You can also answer on Facebook or share the question image to with friends and family on social media to get them talking.

Comments

Yes, the town of Round Rock, Texas has an association called the Old Settlers Association. My grandfather, Franklin Lincoln Aten was one of the presidents of the association for years and when they established the Old Settlers Park outside of Round Rock they named one of the streets in the park "Aten"

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Yes,,,, My Great Grandfather Millard McNutt ,,, Mc Nutt-948 He was a lay Methodist Minister in Alabama and one of the 32 founding members of Liberty M.E. Church, South 1877 according to the Church Record. The Church was renamed in his honor about 1930 to 1940. The McNutt Memorial Methodist Church, Dekalb Alabama.

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The town of Louisiana, Missouri, is named after my GGG grandfathers sister, Louisiana (Basye) Tombs.  Their father was John Walter Basye, the towns founder.

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My mum told me I was named after Dawn Frazer and Lorraine Crapp,( swimmers).

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Dawn Fraser (note spelling) and Lorraine Crapp both swam for Australia in the 1956 Olympic Games, Melbourne, Australia. I heard their race on the radio (Australia did not have TV until that year and most people could not afford one). Dawn was the first woman to break 60 seconds for 100 metres freestyle (she held the world record for this event for 15 years) and also represented her country in the Rome and Tokyo Olympics. The Balmain swimming pool in Sydney Harbour was renamed after her.

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Thankyou for your email and thanks for correcting my spelling.

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Answer 1

A very small bridge in Horry County, South Carolina, is named for my maternal great-great-grandfather, Elisha Tyler. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess119_2011-2012/bills/3978.htm

Answer 2

Several Black Forest still carry names that originated from  ancestors' (mostly first) names

Answer 3

Fagerstrom Park in Mobile County, AL is named after my uncle John F Fagerstrom, who deeded the land to Mobile for a recreation area.

From 1954 to 1960, he served as Board of Revenue & Roads Commissioner, (renamed Mobile County Commissioner in 1960).

Answer 4

A Liberty Ship deployed during WWII, the Daniel Huger, was named for my husband's 4th GGF. My husband had never heard about this and was very surprised when I uncovered it's part in his family story.

Comments

Liberty Ships were amazing and a critical part of winning the war...only a few in existence today. I have made a freespace about the USS Beagle, a liberty ship my father served on and so far one descendant of a crew member contacted me to identify her father in an unmarked photo.  

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:USS_Beagle_(IX-112)

Answer 5

1. A prison. The New Bayley in Manchester UK erected in 1787 (no connection with the Old Bailey in London) was named after my 4-Great-Grandfather Thomas Butterworth Bayley 1744-1802 [[Bayley-1262]]. See 'Magistracy' in  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Butterworth_Bayley

2. Taylor's Theorem, and the Taylor Series, in mathematics. Many years after his death, the work of my 6-Great-Grandfather Brook Taylor 1685-1731 [[Taylor-65501]] was recognised as "The main foundation of differential calculus" (a significant branch of mathematics).

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differential_calculus

3. A crater on the moon. Taylor crater is named after Brook Taylor (2. above).

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_(crater)

Answer 6

Brevard County in Florida, Brevard Street in Tallahassee, Caroline Brevard Elementary School.

And then, there's cousin Thomas Jefferson....too many to list.

Answer 7

Poe's Ridge, with a boat ramp and a nature trail, is located on the edge of Jordan Lake, near Pittsboro, Chatham County, North Carolina, United States.  That was the location of the home which my Great Great Grandpa Hasten Poe built, and which was last occupied a bit over 50 years ago by my maternal Grandma Florence Poe Wilkie's brother Charles Coen Poe.  Much of the land that Uncle Charlie owned was flooded as part of the project to create Jordan Lake, and the house was torn down.

Comments

Hi George, we are 5th cousins!

 I have many Poe cousins in N Carolina…

Susan 

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I see that we connect through the Pattersons.  They seem to have married into just about every family that settled in North Carolina.  They were very prosperous, and I gather that my Great Great Great Grandpa Jesse Poe (who married Charity Patterson) was helped a lot by his father-in-law Gilbert Patterson when he was building up his land and livestock holdings.

Answer 8

Körausweg 46.726130, 14.080740

9560 Feldkirchen in Kärnten, Austria (Carinthia)

 After the farm my direct ancestor Christian Köraus (my mother's last name) owned there in the mid-1700' ... it was a super-awesome discovery. If I ever get to go back to Europe, I need to take a selfie under that street sign.

Answer 9

Beasley’s Island in New Bern NC…..Solomon Beasley/Beesley.     Solomon born 1707-1789 who’s father was John 1685-1755.  Gary Beasley 1944 Pensacola, FL

Answer 10

My grandfather William Hale struck up a friendship with the developer and had a street named after him in Bellmore Nassau county New York, Hale Place.

Comments

I grew up in North Bellmore, Long Island, New York!

I don’t remember a Hale Place. Maybe it’s because I moved from Bellmore in 1970!

Can you tell me an idea where it is?

Susan

Answer 11

Yes. I am descended from John Dillard (Dillard-356) whose family was the namesake for Dillard, Georgia (in Rabun County).

I personally think this is really neat- I want to go see Dillard, GA now!

Info from Wikipedia:

John Dillard's descendants became prominent in and today reside in the Rabun County town of Dillard, Georgia which is named for the family.

Also from Wikipedia:

John Dillard settled in the area around what is now Dillard with his son, James Dillard, circa 1823. James took title to 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) of land by purchasing the lottery rights of land holders in Rabun County. John Dillard served as a lieutenant in the Virginia Militia in the American Revolution, during which he was in the Battle of Guilford Court House and other battles. Both James and John were residents of Buncombe County, North Carolina prior to their settlement on lands now comprising Dillard.

The small town is now known primarily for the Dillard House, a regionally well-known inn, restaurant and conference center that serves traditional southern fare. John M. Dillard of Greenville, South Carolina, has extensively documented the history of John Dillard and his descendants.

Answer 12

Mount Spurr in Alaska, named for Josiah Edward Spurr.

Answer 13

Davidson County, North Carolina, Davidson College, North Carolina, and Davidson County, Tennessee, were named in the memory of my husband's 1st cousin 7x removed, Gen. William Lee Davidson (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Davidson-1204).

Answer 14

At The USC School of Law, the John B Milliken professorship of Taxation was named for my grandfather, (Judge) John Barnes Milliken.

Answer 15

The city of Frostburg, Maryland was named after my ancestor’s brother.  My ancestor was Josiah Frost, Jr.  His brother was Meshach Frost.  They started coal mines in the area.  Josiah later moved on to Ohio, but Meshach stayed on in Maryland and ran the business.

Answer 16

My 4th Great Grand Father - Albany, NY - City father Albert Janse probably was born during the 1640s. He was the son of Beverwyck pioneers Jan Janse and Tryntje Jans. Perhaps he was their only child. Their descendants are known by the surname "Ryckman."  My Mother's maiden name and direct desendant. Albert Janse Ryckman

and 
my 4th Great-Grand Father - Demorestville is a small village in the township of Sophiasburgh in Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada. It was named after Guilliame Demorest (12 February 1769 – 10 December 1848) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Edward_County,_Ontario

and Joseph Guinotte my 3rd Great-Grand Uncle
Guinotte | “Gee-NOTE” | Joseph Guinotte was a French-speaking Belgian who moved to Kansas City in 1848. He was a farmer + realtor who purchased 1,200 acres in the area now known as the East Bottoms. It makes sense why Guinotte Avenue runs from General Mills in the east to the River Market in the west. Tricky Street names

Answer 17

According to descendants of the Joseph Martin family, Clarinda, Iowa. was named in honor [[Northway-137|Clarinda (NORTHWAY) Martin]], best friend of Major Georg Ribble's wife, Sarah Surface Ribble.  Clarinda is my 3rd great grandmother.

Answer 18

"The Smail Plough"

A horse drawn plough devised by my great grandfather Thomas Smail a blacksmith who operated his own business at Lanton near Jedburgh. An example of the plough can be seen on the small village green plus there are examples in the museums at the Wilton Lodge Park Museum at Hawick and the national Museum of Antiquities in Edinburgh.

Part of its claim to fame was the number of times pre 1910 it was used to win local and national ploughing contests. Farmers immigrating abroad took their plough with them and the family business sent spares around the world until the tractor overtook the horse drawn plough.

After the death of Thomas in 1908 at the age of 52 his son William Smail operated the blacksmith business until his death in the early 1950's. In the 1911 census returns Thomas's wife Margaret Kerse is recorded as an "agricultural impliment dealer".   

The history of the plough was highlighted in a local newspaper articles as follows - "The Berwickshire and East Lothian Advertiser" the Duns and Dunbar edition dated March 1975 and in the "Kelso and Jedburgh Gazette" on 16th Jan 1976 in their "asides and besides" column on page 12.

A local farmer who had served in the army in Palestine claimed he had found a plough in the desert which was inscribed with weld saying "J. Smail Lanton" (this had been signed by Thomas's son James who originally served as an apprentice in the family business before branching out into motor engineering in later life).

Answer 19

Dyer Island, off the coast of Rhode Island, was named after my 9th Great Grandfather, William Dyer.

Another one of my 9th Great Grandparents, Roger Williams, has a lot named after him, most notably, Roger Williams University.

Answer 20

The Graves Light in Boston Harbor was named after my 8th g-g-father.  Knox and Waldo counties in ME were named after family members and Dave Marion Rd. in Toms River NJ was named after my grandfather's uncle, a famous comedian who was active from the 1890's until his death in 1934.