Could someone with Prince Edward Island or Acadian expertise look at profile Wedge 272

Question

I am working on what was an unsourced profile from Prince Edward Island, Wedge-272. I haven't received a response from the person who entered the information.

Bridget Wedge from PEI, Canada was supposed to have married Daniel  Sylvester Smith, and had a son John Daniel Smith in Philadelphia 17 October 1889 - or 1892.

Wedge is the anglicized form of the name Aucoin. I can find an Ellen Bridget born to John Wedge - and the wikitree entry says Bridget's father was John Thomas. The original dates on the wikitree profile were all "about" dates.

I can find the marriage of Bridget Aucoin to Daniel Sylvester Warren; they had a son John Daniel Warren, born 18 October 1895.

The wikitree Bridget was supposed to have died young, and her son John Daniel Smith was raised by relatives in Philadelphia.  I haven't been able to find records for Bridget after her children were baptized, or young John Daniel Smith in the 1900 US census or the 1901 Canadian census. (although there was a John D. Smith born Oct 17 1900 with father Benjamin Smith on Prince Edward Island in 1901)

Daniel Sylvester Warren marries again in New York, and dies in Philadelphia in 1935.

So, what do you think? Is this just a big co-incidence?  The name "Daniel Sylvester" isn't that common.

Jane

Answer 1

Hi Jane

I would be very wary of these kind of coincidences, 

Surprisingly, there is actually a lot of this sort of thing going on, especially around the time of passing of a locally notable person, especially a minister or pastor.  Or if a youngish person dies tragically.  For a couple of years, a lot of kids will get his first and last name as their first and middle name.  

Unless there is actual evidence, such as having the exact same birthday or the same relatives, it is probably best to maintain separate profiles for these people for the time being, and then merge them with an explanation about the names if it becomes clear that they are the same individuals.

Since we are talking about a fairly recent time frame, some DNA connection would also help.

So, since you asked, i would say that those 'coincidences' are possible hints at the most, and require a great deal more research.  

Keeping an open mind, let's try to find out all we can on each of the names.  It is possible that there is a step-dad involved and John Daniel used his step-dad's name at different points in his life.  There are several scenarios under which this could all be true, or not true at all.  More research required.

Here is an ancestor of mine whose name change puzzled me for a few months:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Sword-120

You will notice that there was more than a few 'coincidences' together that finally convinced me that they were the same person.

Comments

The PM of Bridget's profile, who is also her descendant, has a shared match at GEDmatch 

SJ1612186

Paul Richard

 who has linked a GEDcom with multiple lines of Aucoin ancestry from the Acadian side.  This might give good hints.

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I think the Warren line is a red herring -- a different Bridget Aucoin/Wedge.  The Smith line seems to work properly except there are actually a John Daniel Smith Sr  and Jr.  JD Smith Sr  married Maude Susie Vradenburgh and was the father of John Daniel Smith Jr who married https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Crew-406 in 1945 as per the current profile for the conflated John Daniel Smiths.  

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I will 'un-conflate' them so you can keep on sourcing

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Thanks.  First, on Prince Edward Island, Wedge and Aucoin have been recognized as the same family for many years - like Perry for Poirier, and Peters for Pitre.  It might have depended on whether or not the Priest at the time was French/Acadian, or Irish, the name used on marriage and baptismal documents.

I went back to look at the many documents associated with John Daniel Smith (none before his 1915 marriage in Vermont). He gave his address at the time of enlistment in 1911 on a later military document as 1364 Melville St Philadelphia. I found  Daniel S. Warren living at 1364 Melville St, Philadelphia in a city directory, 1916 (Ancestry City Directories database).

That might be just another co-incidence.

Still can't find them in census records in 1900 or 1910.

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Interesting!

I have the PM's line back to that 1915 marriage, but i can't actually undo the conflation without him, because of the privacy level on the conflated profile. I will probably reach out to him soon,

I will look into the Smith Warren connection to see if i can tell whether it is a step-dad situation.

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Wow, good thing i couldn't unconflate!  There is a memorial inscription that aligns with the info currently on WikiTree!  But what if it was inscribed to go with the erroneous info rather than the other way around?  The details really don't make much sense - a middle aged man going back to school for an engineering degree?  His kids mostly taking the name of their mother's second husband (Garriot)? I don't mean to be disrespectful, but that would have been the mother of all mid-life crises!

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https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/41807108

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sorry, i'm going on about stuff that happened in the 1940's and you are needing stuff from the turn of the century.

Answer 2

Came upon your question.  My Dad was John Daniel Smith.  My mother told me this about him: "John's Great Grandparents came from England to Prince Edwards Island.  They were Seam????  His Grandparents came to Philadelphia.  His father was a sea captain.   His mother left with his father to go to Nova Scotia and left Josh, as a baby, to stay with his grandparents in Philadelphia.  Before they arrived at Nova Scotia, their ship was struck by an iceberg and both were killed.  John was raised by 2 aunts and grandparents until he left hope at age 12.  He was in the US Army \during WWI as a a Medic. During WWII he was a safety engineer as a civilian in the South East Pacific.  After WWII he married my Mom."  He never talked to  me about his life before marriage.  All the information I got was from my Mom and his military records and his Federal Employment application.  I am almost positive that he never married until he married my Mom after WWII.  He was born 17 October, 1889.  I saw one place that had is father dying in 1895 but not his mother.  Didn't have any references or what happened.  The Warren connection doesn't make sense.

I'm sorry I missed seeing you request for me to contact you.

Thank you

Daniel Crewe Smith

calvinchobbes@hotmail.com

Answer 3

Family 27 1881 Census of Canada / Family 170 1891 Census of Canada

Annie Jane Wedge 1878   

  Item 2958 1881 census of Canada

  Item 3159389 1891 Census of Canada

Barbara Wedge 1869  

  Item 2953 1881 Census of Canada

  Item 3159384 1891 Census of Canada

Bridget Wedge 1876   (04 May 1875)

  Item 2957 1881 Census of Canada

  Item 3159388 1891 Census of Canada

  http://www.gov.pe.ca/parosearch/vital/individual-vital-information/recordId/62666/eventType/1

Elizabeth Wedge 1881 Item Item 2959 

Ellen(Blacquiere)  Wedge 1853  

  Item 2952

  Item 3159383 1891 Census of Canada

Eustache Wedge 1870  (15 JUL 1871)

  Item 2954  1881 Census of Canada

  Item 3159385 1891 Census of Canada

  http://www.gov.pe.ca/parosearch/vital/individual-vital-information/recordId/63424/eventType/1

John Wedge 1835  

  Item 2951 1881 Census of Canada

  Item 3159382  1891 Census of Canada

Magdelna Wedge 1872   (12 JAN 1872)

  Item 2955 1881 Census of Canada

  Item 3159386 1891 Census of Canada

  http://www.gov.pe.ca/parosearch/vital/individual-vital-information/recordId/63449/eventType/1

Ma ry Wedge 1874  

  Item 2956

  Item 3159387 1891 Census of Canada

Emaline Wedge 1886 (20 AUG 1885)

  Item 3159392 1891 Census of Cnada

  http://www.gov.pe.ca/parosearch/vital/individual-vital-information/recordId/63422/eventType/1

Emma Wedge 1880

  Item 3159390 1891 Census of Canada

John W Wedge 1883 (15 JUN 1882)

  Item 3159391 1891 Census of Canada

  http://www.gov.pe.ca/parosearch/vital/individual-vital-information/recordId/63434/eventType/1