January 27, 2016
I hear from distant cousins every week. This week I was contacted by a “new” Sawyer family cousin that wrote me to compare notes on our mutual family history.
We quickly realized that yes, we are related and in fact we were both descended from Elbridge Gerry and Julia Clifford (Hanson) Sawyer and – even more – she had a photograph of them, which she copied and sent to me.
Wow – how cool is that!
It got me to thinking of his name: Elbridge Gerry.
He was named for Elbridge Thomas Gerry (1744-1814) – signer of the Declaration of Independence & Articles of Confederation, vice president of the U.S. (serving with James Madison), and later a governor of Massachusetts.
What an impact Elbridge Gerry must have had.
My 2nd-Great-Grandfather, Elbridge Gerry Sawyer (1826-1918) was named for him and so were some of my other relatives:
- Elbridge Gerry Copp (1860-1934)
- Elbridge Gerry Fuller (1821-1887)
- Elbridge Gerry Gage (1860-1925)
- Elbridge Gerry Kemp (1834-1902)
- Elbridge Gerry Marden (1864- )
- Elbridge Gerry Scott (1862- )
At first the name “Elbridge Gerry” didn’t mean anything to me – but as I started to see it repeated again and again with so many of my relatives, on both sides of the family tree, I knew there must be more to the story.
It was easy to understand why plenty of my ancestors were named George Washington…Thomas Jefferson…James Madison…Benjamin Franklin…Andrew Jackson…Ulysses Grant/Ulysses S. Grant…Franklin Pierce…William McKinley and there is even a William Cullen Bryant Kemp (1850-1929).
I wonder how many of my relatives were named for Elbridge Gerry and other people famous in their day but not as well known today?
Do you have an “Elbridge Gerry” in your family?
Do you have other important people in history – though less well-known today – that are remembered as namesakes in your family tree?
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