"Favorite Name" - Marie Rosalie Seraphina Toups

I have found so many names in my family tree that I could call "favorites" for a variety of reasons.  For this post, I decided to choose a name that I like based solely on the name itself - Marie Rosalie Seraphina Toups.  She is my maternal third great-grandmother.  I particularly like the Seraphina part of her name, as well as that her given and middle names reflect her maternal French heritage.

My mother and I follow after Andrew Pampas
in the above lineage.

Name Information

• Marie is a common French variant of the ancient names Mary and Maria. Its meaning is not clearly defined.
• Rosalie is a French form of Italian and Late Roman name Rosalia.  As one would expect, it means "rose."
• Seraphina is the feminine form of the Late Latin name Seraphinus and is typically spelled as "Séraphina" in French.  The name is derived from the Hebrew word "שרפים" "(anglicized as "seraphim"), which means "burning ones" and is used to identify the angels surrounding the throne of God in the Bible.
• Toups was derived from the surname Dubs and came into its current form in the late 1600s to early 1700s.  Rosalie's paternal ancestors who had this surname lived in Switzerland, except for her third great-grandfather who lived in Germany, before emigrating to Louisiana circa 1724.  The Toups were some of Louisiana's earliest settlers, starting with Casper Dubs/Toups originally of Zurich, Switzerland.(1)

Timeline

• 22 January 1841 - Rosalie, which is the name by which she was called, was born in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana(2), to Drauzin (a.k.a., Drausin) Joseph Toups (Abt. 1812 - Aft. 22 Jun 1880) and Marie Eulalie Stevens (a.k.a., Istiben, Estiben, Estiven, Estievenne, and other variations) Toups (1818 - Aft. 22 Jun 1880).
• 1 August 1850 - She lived with her parents, two older siblings, and two younger siblings in Grand Couteau, Lafource, Louisiana.(3)
• 23 July 1859 - Rosalie married Marcelin (a.k.a., Marcellin) Stevens (a.k.a., Stephens, Estievens, and other variations) in Lafourche Parish.(4)
• 27 July 1860 - The new Mrs. Stevens and her husband lived in Ward 1, Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana (Post Office: Thibodaux).(5)
• 01 June 1870 - Rosalie resided with her husband and their four children in Thibodaux, Lafourche, Louisiana.(6)
• 22 June 1880 - The U.S. Census shows Rosalie as widowed and living with her six children at Ellician Toups Plantation(7)(8)(9), now known as Ariel Plantation(10), located about "nine miles below Thibodaux," in the 5th Ward of Lafourche Parish, Louisiana.

This post is part of +Amy Johnson Crow's 2018 #52Ancestors challenge.

Bibliography

1. Deiler, John Hanno. The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana and the Creoles of German Descent. vol. 8, American Germanica Press, 1909. pp. 31, 77, 82, 83, 95, 103, 124.
2. Toups, Neil J. The Toups Clan and How It All Began. Neilson, 1969. p. 98.
3. "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCJW-1MC : 12 April 2016), Rosala Toups in household of Dransin Toups, Grand Coteau, Lafourche, Louisiana, United States; citing family 37, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
4. Toups, Neil J. The Toups Clan and How It All Began. Neilson, 1969. p. 98.
5. "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFPD-WLW : 12 December 2017), Rosela Stevens in entry for Marcellin Stevens, 1860.
6. "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M87Q-Z2V : 12 April 2016), Rolelia Stephens in household of Marcelin Stephens, Louisiana, United States; citing p. 7, family 47, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 552,015.
7. Louisiana Sugar Planters' Association, Lousiana Sugar Chemists' Association, American Cane Growers' Association. The Louisiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer. vol. 1, Lousiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer Company, 1888. p. 198.
8. "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MD6T-1R9 : 15 August 2017), Rosalie Eliza Esteven, 5th Ward, Lafourche, Louisiana, United States; citing enumeration district ED 131, sheet 641C, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 0455; FHL microfilm 1,254,455.
9. Louisiana Sugar Planters' Association, Lousiana Sugar Chemists' Association, American Cane Growers' Association. The Louisiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer. vol. 15, Lousiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer Company, 1895. p. 198.
10. French, Benjamin Franklin, and Joh Gilmary Shea. Biographical and Historical Memories of Louisiana. Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1892. pp. 424-425.

©Amy Wood Kelly, 2018 - I am happy to share my genealogical research and writing with others, as well as to help others with their research efforts.  However, please do not reprint or repost this in full or in part or use excerpts from it without giving full credit to me, Amy Wood Kelly, as the researcher and author as well as providing the permalink to this post.  Thank you, in advance, for showing respect for my request and the work I put creating this.

Murl Sanders Litaker, Sr. (1896-1955), 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 15, "How Do You Spell That?"

My maternal great-grandfather, Murl Sanders Litaker, Sr. (1896-1955), in his World War I uniform.
(Photo given to me by his daughter, my maternal grandmother.)

When I saw this week's theme of "How Do You Spell That?" for +Amy Johnson Crow and NoStoryTooSmall.com's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge, I did not have to think twice about my subject. (Okay, I did think exactly twice, because only one other ancestor jumped immediately to mind.  However, I decided not to write about Molsie Jane Talbert Litaker again since I just posted about her last week!)

My maternal great-grandfather's name was Murl Sanders Litaker, Sr.  ("Murl" rhymes with "pearl," in case the reader is not quite sure how to pronounce it.) I did some research on this given name, and it is derived from French and means "falcon."1 It peaked in popularity as a boy's name in 1924 when 0.0056% of American boys had this name bestowed upon them; and, since 1983, there have not been five or more children of either gender named Murl according to Social Security Administration data.2

As one may imagine from the statistics given above, census enumerators, draft registrars, and, surely, many others frequently must have asked my great-grandfather and his parents, "How do you spell that?" It seems that, even if those individuals asked, they still often got the spelling wrong:

• In the 1900 U.S. Census, the census enumerator recorded his given name as "Mearl."3
• In the 1910 U.S. Census, the census enumerator recorded his given name as "Mirl."4
• On his World War I draft registration card, the registrar recorded his given name as "Muerl."5
• In the 1920 U.S. Census, the census enumerator recorded his given name as "Merl."6

On 17 July 1925, Murl and his wife, Faye Elizabeth Litaker, had their first child, a son they named Murl Sanders Litaker, Jr.  The North Carolina, Birth Indexes, 1800-2000 incorrectly recorded both son and father's given names as "Merle."7  I feel certain that my grand uncle still often gets asked, "How do you spell that?"

(For those that may be interested, I wrote an Amanuensis Monday post earlier this year in which I transcribed a World War I [circa April 1919] postcard from Murl, Sr. to his mother.)
__________
1Murl Meaning. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.ourbabynamer.com/meaning-of-Murl.html.
2Murl Name Popularity. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.ourbabynamer.com/Murl-name-popularity.html.
31900 U.S. Census, Cabarrus County, North Carolina, population schedule, Cooks Cross Roads, enumeration district (ED) 0016, p. 8A (handwritten), dwelling -, family 134; Mearl [sic] S. Litaker; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 April 2015); citing NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 1185.
41910 U.S. Census, Cabarrus County, North Carolina, population schedule, Township 4, enumeration district (ED) 0038, p. 22B (handwritten), dwelling -, family 111; Mirl [sic] Litaker; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 April 2015); citing NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 1100.
5"U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com, : accessed 12 April 2015); Cabarrus County, North Carolina, Township 4, Muerl [sic] S. Litaker entry, dated 05 June 1917.
61920 U.S. Census, Cabarrus County, North Carolina, population schedule, Cooks Cross, enumeration district (ED) 44, p. 6A (handwritten), dwelling Fm., family 97; Merl [sic] Litake [sic]; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 April 2015); citing NARA microfilm publication T625, roll 1288.
7Merle [sic] Sanders Litaker, Jr.; from " North Carolina, Birth Indexes, 1800-2000" database online, Ancestry.com (http://interactive.ancestry.com/8783/NCVR_B_C016_66001-0256/1243211 : accessed 12 April 2015), imaged from Register of Deeds, North Carolina Birth Indexes; citing "North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh."


©Amy Wood Kelly, 2015 - I am happy to share my genealogical research and writing with others, as well as to help others with their research efforts.  However, please do not reprint this post in full or in part or use excerpts from this post without giving full credit to me, Amy Wood Kelly, as the researcher and author as well as providing the permalink to this post.  Thank you, in advance, for showing respect for my request and the work I put into creating this post.