The Many Names of Laura Ann Scruggs

In genealogical research, some names are more difficult to track than others. Unique names, ones with a variety of consonants, ones where spelling and pronunciation don’t necessarily seem to match. These all make sense – you’re probably going to have to be creative in your research techniques to find the person or people that you’re looking for. (See my maternal great-great-grandmother Scoatney (Scott) Cooper and her sister Masonia (Scott) Worthen for two examples.)

But I didn’t think “Scruggs” would be one of those names. Sure, maybe the “c” becomes a “k,” maybe there’s one “g” instead of two, maybe the “s” even becomes a “z,” or the “gg” becomes a “ck,” but none of those should make the name particularly difficult to research; how many different ways could people really hear or write the name? 

It turns out, quite a few. Whether it’s what they heard or what they remembered, the maiden name of my paternal great-great-grandmother Laura Ann Scruggs was written quite a few ways in the records, from marriage license applications to death certificates to at least one application for a Social Security Number. And because this is kind of fun to explore, let’s take a look at all the variations!

 

Scruggs

This is the name she is most commonly referred to as, though if you add up the other variations, they far outnumber this one in the records I have so far. It's also the name that connects me to some recently-learned intriguing family notes that may help me trace her sibling(s) and their descendants.

Example 1: Her daughter Jannie Mae's application for a license to wed Cleve Blackmon.

Example 2: Her daughter Jannie Mae's application for a license to wed James Smith.

Example 3: Her son William Marshall Evans' application for a marriage to wed Pauline McKinzie.

Screws

This name appears on two of Laura Ann's children's applications for marriage licenses.

Example 1: Her son William Marshall Evans, to Anna Belle Oliver.

Scriggs

I’m pretty certain that this is “my” Laura Ann, though I can’t officially tie this household to my tree yet; this is the quest I’m currently on, as described in my recent Mystery Monday post and fleshed out here. If this is her in the 1900 U.S. Census in Dooley, Montgomery, Alabama, she appears as 17-year-old Laura Scriggs, living with her mother Eliza Scriggs and her brother Henry.

 

Scrubs

This name appears on Laura Ann's marriage documents to (James) Steven Evans.

Example 1: Their application for a marriage license.

Example 2: Their marriage license.

Scrubbs

Not too different from the above, this one appears on Laura Ann's daughter Sarah's Certificate of Death. The informant was Sarah's daughter Irene.

Strokes

This name appears on her son Theodore Johnson's (previously Steve Evans) application for a Social Security Number. Theodore was the informant, but he didn't enter the information himself - it is typed out and while his name is signed at the bottom, it is preceded by an "X" and the words "His Mark," and is followed by the signatures of two witnesses.

Strug

This names appears on Laura Ann's son James Henry's application for a license to wed Annie Ruth Oliver. 

Struggs

This version of the name appears on the death certificates of two of Laura Ann's children.

Example 1: Daughter Jannie's Mae's Certificate of Death. The informant, Jannie Mae's daughter, and Laura Ann's granddaughter, Veola.

Example 2: Son James Henry's Certificate of Death. Informant: Aldrena Evans, James' widow.

*     *     *

So, how many versions of her surname can we find? At least 7, maybe 8: Screws, Scrubs, Scrubbs, Scruggs, Strokes, Strug, Struggs, and potentially Scriggs.

At least her first name stays pretty consistent, as either Laura Ann, or simply Laura, though there's a Lara (Strug) and maybe a Laraine (Screws) - that last one's hard to tell. Still, the consistency is basically there. But here's a head scratcher: her name appears as "Corrine" on the Certificate of Death for her daughter Jestine.

 

Maybe that's because the informant was a nurse at the hospital where Corrine passed away. The nurse either didn't hear, remember, or know the correct information. (She did get Jestine's father's name correct, as Steve Evans, though.)

*     *     *

There are still other documents I can hope to get that have Laura Ann's name on them, including the Social Security Number applications for several more of her children, and - ideally, but perhaps less realistically given the time period in which she dies (likely around 1918) - her death certificate. What names will those show? We'll have to wait and see!