Tag Archives: Lovejoy

Meet Lilly: The Woman Who Started it All

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I’d like to introduce you to my great-grandmother. Meet Lilly May Lovejoy (nee Young). She is pictured here with my grandmother Betty May Lovejoy.

Black and White photo of a baby wearing a bonnet sitting on the lap of a woman with dark hair cut in a short bob. Both are smiling.

I’ve written about her before in my 12 Months, 12 Ancestors series, and I have never forgotten her. Now that nearly all of those in my grandmother’s generation have passed on, the last thing I expected was to see what Lilly looked like. But here we are.

This wonderful photo was shared with me by my 1st cousin, 1x removed named Ken. Ken is my mother’s first cousin – the first born of that generation and his father was the first born child of Lilly and her husband Victor Lovejoy. I love my cousins on my mothers side. They are so funny and kind. We all cheer each other on and support each other through life’s ups and downs. On a whim I asked Ken if by any chance had any photos of Lilly, I was shocked that within a few days he found this gem!

Lilly May Young was a bit controversial in her lifetime.

  • She lied on her marriage certificate to Victor Lovejoy in order to appear younger than she was. (In actuality she was 21 and her husband was only 16!)
  • She was pregnant at the wedding – her oldest son was born 5 months after the wedding.
  • She had 3 children in short succession (less than 4 years.)
  • Lilly died unexpectedly of a brain hemorrhage when my grandmother was a baby – she was only 26 years old.

Thanks to AncestryDNA, I know for a fact that I am a descendent of Lilly’s. There’s no question with the number of “Young” cousins I have. Even cousin Ken has tested and he’s been my closest relative next to my dad and brother for years.

I couldn’t resist making a comparison between Lilly and my mom. They look so much alike to me it’s uncanny.

A side by side comparison of a woman in 1970s clothing and a black and white photo of a woman from 1926.

Marlene (Hyde) Hill and her grandmother Lilly May (Young) Lovejoy.

I feel such a strong connection to Lilly and it’s even stronger now that I’ve seen her smile. I can only imagine that she would’ve been a lot of fun to be around. I’m drawn by the warmth of her eyes.

I am so proud to put another face to a name on my family tree. Thank you Ken!

A series of 5 black and white photos for 5 generations of women.

What’s in a Name? A look at the men in my family tree

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Some discussion has come up recently in my family regarding some of the names in my family tree. Most people in the family are intrigued when I tell them about some of the most common names but it’s in the unusual that I usually get the biggest response.

For my own personal amusement, I decided to look at some stats from my own pedigree chart. Here are the most common facts:

  • The first names George, James, John and William appear on all 4 sides of my family tree (Hill, Porter, Hyde and Lovejoy). All names of kings and perhaps proving my families monarchist leanings.
  • Thomas, Robert and Henry appear in 3 of the 4 sides.
  • Looking at common male first names in my entire tree, there are 22 named George, 21 named James, 20 named Henry, John, Robert, Samuel, Thomas and William.

Interesting themes

My ancestors really liked names starting with the letter J. On top of the traditional Jeffrey, John, Jonathan, Joseph and James, there have been Jobus, Jabez, Joshue, Jared, Jacob and even Johann.

At least one side of my family tree turned to the bible for inspiration. Uncommon by today’s standards, ancestors along the Hyde/Marcy/Lovejoy/Young side of my family named their sons Moses, Obadiah, Amos, Abraham, Isaac and even Eleazer.

Oh those crazy American roots

Knowing I have Quaker roots on my Marcy line, it should come as no shock to see the names Calvin and Freeman in my family tree.

Samuel Willson is the most common name on my Lovejoy/Young side. Four generations with the name Samuel Willson were born into my chart starting in 1681. There is speculation online that at least one signed the Declaration of Independance and another was the inspiration for the phrase Uncle Sam.

Love and Marriage

If your name is John on my pedigree chart, you most likely married an Elizabeth. Other than 3 who married a Nancy, Mary and Helen, all of the other John’s married a woman named Elizabeth. Not suprisingly, Elizabeth is the most common female name on my entire tree with 21 Elizabeth’s and 17 Eliza’s!

The End of the Line

The oldest male name on my English Hill side is 7th great grandfather James Alldwin who was born in 1700. It should come as no shock that his wfe was named Elizabeth.

On my Scottish Porter side, my 6th great grandfather Archibald McMaster is the oldest male name. He was born in 1726 on the Isle of Arran off the Scottish coast.

The oldest male name on my Scottish Dryden side is my 7th great grandfather Robert Cairns who was born in 1680.

My 2nd great grandfather Henry Hyde has the oldest male name on my Irish Hyde line. He was born in/around 1839 in Ireland and due to unrest and such I wrote about in this blog, I haven’t been able to trace any further back.

One of the oldest male name in my line comes from the Marcy side. Geoffrey Massey, my 9th great grandfather, was born in 1563 in a place called Knutsford, Cheshire, England. Many of this line came to America and settling in Massachusets (New England). It was here that the family name morphed into the Marcy it is today.

I don’t have birth or death dates but I know my 9th great grandfather Ralfe Wilder married Mary Hazel in 1691. I believe this would make his name the oldest on the Lovejoy line.

And lastly, The oldest male name on my Young family line belongs to my 13th great-grandfather, William Wilson (Willson?). Born in 1542 in Wellsbourne, Lincolnshire, England. He married Isobel Woodhall in the 1570’s and died in Windsor, Berkshire, England in 1615.

How about you? Have you found any interesting names/facts down your family tree lines? Share them in the comments below.