The Name Game

1-Rebecca (bef 1790-bet 1846 and 1847)

+James FOSTER (abt 1781-aft 1840)

. . .2-John FOSTER (1809-aft 1870)

. . . . . 3-Margaret Rebecca FOSTER (1835-6 May 1865)

. . . . . 3-Sarah A. FOSTER (1840-)

. . . . . 3-Paulina E. FOSTER (1841-)

. . . . . 3-Mary E. FOSTER (1846-)

. . .2-James FOSTER (abt 1811-1876)

. . . . . 3-Louisa FOSTER (1843-)

. . . . . 3-Amanda FOSTER (1856-May 1873)

. . . . . 3-Nancy Caledonia FOSTER (1859-)

. . . . . 3-Mary Ellen FOSTER (1870-1875)

. . .2-William FOSTER (11 Sep 1817-12 Aug 1884)

. . . . . 3-Martha FOSTER (1840-)

. . . . . 3-Nancy FOSTER (1841-)

. . . . . 3-Susan Ann FOSTER (12 Aug 1854-1928)

. . . . . 3-Sarah Elizabeth FOSTER (1857-1933)

. . . . . 3-Louisa Ellen FOSTER (1859-1933)

. . . . . 3-Annie FOSTER (1867-)

. . .2-Elijah FOSTER (1820-1886)

. . . . . 3-Sarah A. FOSTER (1843-)

. . . . . 3-Rebecca E. FOSTER (1854-)

. . . . . 3-Mary Jane FOSTER (13 Sep 1856-11 May 1951)

. . . . . 3-Amanda C. (Mandy) FOSTER (1863-1930)

. . .2-Susan FOSTER (abt 1821-1853)

. . . . . 3-Paulina E PARK (1845-1882)

. . . . . 3-Mary Ann PARK (Mar 1852-1909)

. . . . . 3-Martha Lavinia PARK (1853-22 Nov 1929)

. . .2-Daniel D. FOSTER (1825-)

. . . . . 3-Sarah FOSTER (1848-)

. . .2-Mary Ellen FOSTER (1 Mar 1826-5 Jul 1870)

. . . . . 3-Nancy PARK (5 Oct 1846-1913)

. . . . . 3-Paulina PARK (3 Jan 1849-13 Feb 1933)

. . . . . 3-Emily PARK (1850-)

. . . . . 3-Samantha PARK (1852-)

. . . . . 3-Narcissa PARK (6 Feb 1856-9 Feb 1890)

. . . . . 3-Hannah PARK (1863-)

. . . . . 3-Mary PARK (1 Aug 1867-14 Sep 1953)

. . .2-Burrell FOSTER (1829-1860)

. . . . . 3-Averilla FOSTER (1849-1880)

. . .2-Samuel FOSTER (1832-5 Feb 1860)

. . . . . 3-Susannah FOSTER (1859-1888)

Rebecca is listed twice here, the first as a middle name and the other is the daughter of Eli Foster and Rebecca Henson.  If you were to do a guess on what a grandnmothers name might be based upon the granddaughter’s names, the statistics would be something like this (half points for middle name):

NameCount First

5 Mary

4 Sarah

3 Nancy

3 Paulina

2 Amanda

2 Louisa

2 Martha

1.5 Rebecca

1 Samantha

1 Narcissa

1 Susannah

1 Susan

1 Margaret

1 Hannah

1 Emily

1 Averilla

1 Annie

Rebecca wouldn’t be a serious consideration, particularly if you filtered this even further to exclude names that came from the non-Foster grandmother or mother, where known:

NameCount First

4 Mary

4 Sarah

3 Nancy

2 Amanda

2 Louisa

2 Martha

1 Samantha

1 Narcissa

1 Susannah

1 Margaret

1 Hannah

1 Emily

1 Averilla

1 Annie

1 Paulina

.5 Rebecca

(Paulina drops down because of the Polly Parks connection to two of the Foster daughters.)

If we want to take the statistical analysis to the absurd.  We can look at just initials (a lot of times we only have middle initials) and figure out what letter the grandmother’s name would most likely begin with:

Count FirstI

8 M

7 S

6 A

4.5 E

4 N

3 P

2.5 L

1.5 R

1 H

If any of this meant anything, one could speculate that the mother of James’ children should be named Mary or Sarah.

Alas, I am probably the only person who was ever bothered by this,