What's in a Name?

The very first thing we often learn about a person is his or her name. Our name is an intimate part of who we are.   It comprises our identity, and we make connections between our name and identity every day.   As for people long gone who we are researching, it will all we will ever be able to learn about them.  In some cases, we uncover enough information to develop some sort of perception of their personality.  But it's not the same as actually getting to know them.  So we have to rely on names.  I've been researching women soldiers for over ten years now and have encountered lots of names.   


There's Mary Ellen Wise, Mary Ann Clark, Mary Ann Pittman, Mary Ann West, Mary Jane Johnson,  Mary Jane Prater, Mary Brown, Mary Galloway, Mary Burns, Mary Siezgle, Mary Scaberry, Mary Corbin, Mary Owens, Mary Bell, and Mary Smith....actually three of them.

So, Mary was obviously prevalent.

Then, there was Frances Clayton/Clatin/Clalin, Frances Hook, Frances Day, and Frances Jamieson.

There were a few Sarahs as well.  Sarah E. Bradbury, Sarah E. Mitchell, Sarah Smith, Sarah Collins, Sarah Emma Edmonds, and Sarah Rosetta Wakeman come to mind.

Let's Be Frank

All of these women had to disguise themselves in order to serve in the military.  Part of their masquerade included assuming a male alias.

Frank seems to be popular, perhaps because it was close to Frances, which may have been the woman's true feminine name.  There was Frank Hall, Frank Deming, Frank Mayne, and Frank Martin, who was not Frances Hook as some historians and authors have claimed.  Other aliases associated with Frances Hook  include Frank Miller, Frank Henderson, and Frank Fuller.  However, research shows that Frank Miller was the only pseudonym Hook herself used.  Frank Henderson was assigned to her by a newspaper reporter who was more than likely trying to afford her some privacy.  And Frank Fuller was an error on the part of modern historians who confused the name with that of a woman soldier who used the alias, Charles Fuller.

Speaking of Charles, it and its derivative, Charley, were trendy.  There was a Charles Johnson, Charles Freeman, Charles Martin, Charles Norton, Charles Wilson, Charles Johehons whose last name was absolutely butchered by the press.  The real last name makes a lot more sense.  Then there was Charley H., Clarley Green, Charley Davis, Charley Miller, Charlie H. Williams, Charley Marshall, Soldier Charlie, Scarfaced Charley, and just plain old Charley.

(By the way, these lists are by no means exhaustive.  And I have a feeling that when I dig deeper into some of these aliases, my research will find that some of them belonged to the same woman.)

Out of all of the aliases I have encountered, the strangest one has been Henry Brigedgettett.  As a matter of fact,  when perusing my notes to create this post, I noticed that I had typed "WHAT???!!" next to it when I made the original entry.  I can't say that name.  Nor can I even attempt to spell it.  I have had to copy and paste it when researching it - with no luck of course - with it or various spellings.  It is either the worst "typo" in history or the most creative alias ever devised.

The reasons behind women soldiers choosing their particular aliases seem to make sense in some cases.  As for Henry Briedgdgtggedegdbkgett above, that was supposedly the name of her neighbor whose place she took in the ranks.  Rosetta Wakeman merely changed her first name to "Lyons" while keeping her last when she enlisted in the 153rd New York Infantry.  For others, there appears to be no rhyme or reason as to the methods they used in selecting their aliases.  And some apparently put little thought into it.  Such is Martha Lindley who enlisted in the regulars under the quite boring name of James, or Jim, Smith.


The reason why these women had to create a new identity, of which an alias was a part, is because they were, in fact, breaking the law by wearing male clothing and enlisting in the army.  Obviously, they didn't want to get caught.  And you can imagine how trying it is to attempt to find somebody who doesn't want to be found.  (I wrote a guest blog post on this topic for true crime author Ann Marie Ackermann, which you can read by clicking [HERE].  By the way, go purchase her book.  You will enjoy it.)   As I have found, sometimes excruciatingly so, some of these women had not only multiple male aliases  but feminine ones as well.  So far, I have found two female pseudonyms for Marian McKenzie.  Mary Ann Clark used a few different ones herself.  And there were three Elizabeths who chose to go by other names.  Frances Hook was really Elizabeth Quinn.  Sarah Bradbury's first name was actually Elizabeth.  Her mother's first name was Sarah, and she died when Elizabeth was just a child.  So her daughter may have assumed her name in her honor.  And then Louise Silber (or Silver) was an Elizabeth as well.  She claimed to have been a soldier but really wasn't.  During the war, she was apparently too busy running around on her husband who was away serving in the army.  No wonder she chose to go by Louise after the war.  (Not all of these women were pure and virtuous, worthy of sainthood.)

By the way, men used aliases as well.  Woman soldier, Jennie Hodgers, observed, "Lots of boys enlisted under the wrong name." So I suppose it was no big deal to her that she did the same thing.   Speaking of Jennie, her male alias was "Albert Cashier."  Jennie was an alias as well.

When I opened this blog post, I stated how our name is an intimate part of our identity.  And it is tragic that some of these women lost theirs forever when they chose to assume an alias and then made the ultimate sacrifice, at which time they often took their true names with them to their grave.  They have been lost to history.

Until next formation...rest.