A.E.A. (Hayden?) Meacham was also known as Adin E Meighen.
A.E.A. (Hayden?) Meacham married
Martha Ranslow, daughter of
William Henry Renslow, Sr., and
Susanna M. Ayers, on 1 January 1852.
2,1 A.E.A. (Hayden?) Meacham and Martha Meacham appeared on the census of 1860 in New Berlin, Sangamon County, Illinois,
1860 US Census, population schedule, NARA Microfilm Series M653, Roll 226, pp. 594-595, Dwelling House #1139, Family #1083; Ancestry.com's Images Online, http://www.ancestry.com/main.htm.
Enumeration date 26 August 1860. Illinois. Sangamon County. 17th Subdivision. New Berlin Post Office.
A E A Meachem; age 29; male; Wagon M; value of real estate, 300; value of personal estate, 150; born in Ill.
M Meachem; age 24; female; born in NY.
W Meachem; age 5; male; born in Mo.
A Meachem; age 3; male; born in Ill.
E Meachem; age 9 months; born in Ill.
Notes.
1. Page numbers. Page 594 not marked with this series of page numbers; page 595 is marked. The pages also carry marks as pages 150 and 151.
2. Dwelling House. The number was overwritten, and it's possible that the first digit was a 2.
3. A E A Meachem. He was given three initials by the enumerator. His occupation probably wagon master.
4. The Birthplaces of M Meachem and W Meachem were each followed by a check mark.
5. W Meachem. The birthplace was difficult to interpret. Other possible interpretations are Me, No, Ne.
6. E Meachem. Age actually given as 9/12.
7. Martha is apparently daughter of William Henry Renslow and Susannah Henry.
--
Larry Renslow
larry@tdl.com
*****
Subject: Martha Renslow Meacham
Date: Sat, 22 Dec 2001
From: Eileen Roddy
Ref: 1860 US Census, Sangamon Co., IL, this certainly appears to be Martha, daughter of William Henry Renslow and Susannah Henry; however, I have a problem with her husband's name which apparently appears on the census as A. E. A. Meachem.
The Wisconsin marriage record shows Hayden Meachan and Martha Renslow, married on 1 Jan 1852, in Dunkirk, Dane Co., Wisconsin. This too was sent to me by Charlotte.
Any thoughts??
Eileen.
Subject: Martha Renslow Meacham
Date: Sat, 22 Dec 2001
From: Eileen Roddy
Ref: 1860 US Census, Sangamon Co., IL, this certainly appears to be Martha, daughter of William Henry Renslow and Susannah Henry; however, I have a problem with her husband's name which apparently appears on the census as A. E. A. Meachem.
The Wisconsin marriage record shows Hayden Meachan and Martha Renslow, married on 1 Jan 1852, in Dunkirk, Dane Co., Wisconsin. This too was sent to me by Charlotte.
Any thoughts??
Eileen
*****
Subject: Re: Martha Renslow Meacham
Date: Sat, 22 Dec 2001
From: Larry Renslow
Hayden? I have it as Adin E Meighen from son Austin's death record.
I don't think the spelling variations are too important, either for the given name or surname. Many of the records we extract, and most of the older records we extract, are phonetic spellings. As we go back in time, spelling becomes less and less important, and pronunciation becomes more and more important. Educated people, of course, can spell their own names, but this is important only when a person is writing their own name, rather than having a clerk take it down. And, I suspect that circa 1860, this Meighen family was going through a slow process of Americanizing the spelling of their name to Meachem.
I don't know what to make of the extra initial in the census, but it may have been no more than a hearing error by the enumerator. (You thought I said WHAT?) On the other hand, it's entirely possible that Hayden had two middle names.
In any case, you can't make too big a deal out of a census entry. You never know where the information came from. It could have been a neighbor, a minister, a storekeeper, or whoever else just happened to be standing around at the time.
And, you can't make too big a deal out of the parents' names on a death record. The deceased obviously couldn't give the parents' names himself, so the information came from a child, or a grandchild, or perhaps a neighbor or friend.
I don't have any document on which Mr. Meighen/Meachem wrote his name in his own hand. If one of us had that, it would be the authoritative spelling. (Even in this case, some folks spelled their name differently at different times.)
The "trap" with variant spellings is the danger of mixing records of two people together because of thinking that the records refer to the same person. I know this is what is worrying Eileen. But, I feel confident that these Meighen/Meachem records refer to the same person.
I'm a lot more worried about all of those William Ranslow/Renslow characters that seem to be all over the northern half of the country during the first half of the Nineteenth Century.
--
Larry Renslow
larry@tdl.com.