I wrote this post last year in response to the Nickname theme for #52Ancestors in #52Weeks. The variety of names Josiah Pogue used still puzzles me. I've updated the post for this year's theme.
My great-great-grandfather, Josiah Pogue, was a man with many names. To this day, I don't know what his "real" name was but I suspect it was Josiah.
Born before births were registered in Franklin County, Josiah first shows up as a three-year-old in the 1850 Franklin County, Illinois census. He is clearly listed as Josiah. The last name is spelled Pouge [This happens often. The name is also misspelled as Page].[1]
Enumerated as a thirteen-year-old, he is still listed as Josiah, living with the John M. Foster family in Franklin County in 1860.[2] Both parents (or at least his mother) died sometime between 1850 and 1860, and the Fosters were a family intertwined with the Pogue family in some way. Relatives, perhaps, or at least close friends? The actual relationship is still unclear.
He cannot be found in the 1870 census. [I believe a whole neighborhood was missed in the enumeration process.] In 1880, twenty-three-year-old Josirus Pogue was listed as a cousin in the William Foster household. William Foster is related to John M. Foster, who lived next door in 1880.[3]
Thirty-eight-year-old Josiah Pogue married Mahala McClearin Striplin in 1886 in Franklin County. It is unclear how Josiah had aged fifteen years in six years, but it is likely an error and should say twenty-eight. [This whole marriage record has a lot of problems, and the recorder appears to have been careless in several ways.] John M Foster, a Baptist minister, performed the marriage.[4]
In 1900, fifty-two-year-old Cyrus Pogue was enumerated in the Franklin County census with his wife Mahala and four children, including my great-grandmother Isabel Pogue.[5] Josiah died later in the year, and his tombstone lists his name as Josiah Pogue.[6]
In 1910, when daughter Olive Isabel "Belle" Pogue married, her license listed her father as Joseph Pogue.[7] He is also called Joseph S. Pogue on her Social Security Application.[8] On her 1959 death certificate, her father is listed as Silas Pogue.[9] In 1964, when Josiah's daughter Lydia Pogue Ewing died, her obituary listed her father as Joe Pogue.[10]
Other mentions have been found calling him Si, Silas, and Cy. He was likely indeed named Josiah but was called Joe or Cy by various people. Both nicknames can easily be found within the name Josiah, and multiple people likely mistook them for nicknames such as Joseph, Cyrus, or Silas.
#52 Ancestors topic of the week - Nicknames!! Revised 15 January 2025.
_________________________________________
[1] 1850 U.S. census, Franklin County, Illinois, pop. sched., p. 34b, dwell. 482, fam. 496, Jas Pouge household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 May 2024).
[2] 1860 U.S. census, Franklin County, Illinois, pop. sched., Township 75, range 4E, p.34b, dwell and fam 977, Josiah Pogue in John M. Foster household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 20 May 2024).
[3] 1880 U.S. census, Franklin County, Illinois, pop. sched. Cave Township, e.d. 16, p.7, dwell. and fam. 54, Josirus Pogue in William A. Foster household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 5 April 2023).
[4] "Marriage Records, 1878-1916," digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org: accessed 10 October 2024); Franklin County, Vol. 1, p. 129, Lic. #1617, 1886, Pogue-Striplin marriage; FHL #4661221/1005307, image 141.
[5] 1900 U.S. census, Franklin County, Illinois, pop. sched., Cave Township, e.d. 27, sheet 8a, dwell. 144, fam. 144, Cyrus Pogue household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 13 October 2022).
[6] Find a Grave; digital image (https://www.findagrave.com: accessed 15 January 2025); Memorial #191234210, Josiah Pogue (1849-1900), Mount Zion Cemetery (Thompsonville, Franklin County, Illinois); photo by Brandon Rowe.
[7] Marriage license received from Williamson County Clerk. p. 333, marriage book M, 1910, Edwards-Pogue marriage.
[8] "Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007": index, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 15 January 2025).Belle Pogue Hedges, SSN 334-16-8882. Father: Joseph S. Pogue, Mother: Mahala J. McClerr (sp).
[9] Illinois Death certificate. Copy received from cousin [name withheld for privacy], Williamson County, Illinois, Belle Hedges, 1959, Father: Silas Pogue, Mother: Mahalia McClerren.
[10] "Mrs. Ewing Dies in West Frankfort," Southern Illinoisan (Carbondale), 2 February 1964, p.24, col.2.