My great grandmother, Alma Eldredge Joslyn “did the family genealogy” and passed it on to me. I have continued the search – spending many years documenting her work, filling in the blanks and taking the research beyond what she had recorded – including our relationship to Dr. Bodo Otto.
She was most interested in her paternal Eldredge lines. It pains me to admit that some of what she handed down is incorrect and that she did not cite any of her sources. When I went back to document her work I proved that what she’d recorded on one line of her family is not supported by birth, death or marriage records. It is instead a line that was incorrectly linked together by accredited genealogists back in the late 1800s. This line is printed in countless published genealogies and she apparently accepted this incorrect linage on face value.
Her mistake is a common one – a mistake also made by the Dr. Bodo Otto Association when they reprinted James Gibson's book about Dr. Bodo Otto. Even after research the Association incorrectly published that our Catherine Otto was the wife of Tobias Hammer. Yes, Tobias Hammer married a Catherine Otto but not our Catherine. That however, is another story for another day.
My maiden name was Joslyn – a name I cherish. However, as a daughter, it is a surname I will not be passing on to my children as my husband has passed on the Hughes surname. With only Joslyn daughters in my generation our branch of the Joslyn line has ended. Be assured however, it has ended in name only. The children of all the daughters throughout the generations, past and future, carry it on in spirit.
It is that same kindred spirit I feel toward my Otto ancestors. Maria Elizabeth Otto, the only daughter of Dr. Bodo Otto, married a man known today as Mark Carman. However, that is not the name as listed in records of the time. It is not known exactly when, where, or why his name was changed from Marcus Kirman to Mark Carman.
His name appears in records with various spellings.
His 1731 German baptism record says:
"16 Oct, was born a baby son and baptized Mark. His parents are Andreas Kirmann, and his legally married wife, Catharina Geilerin. Witness Joh. Georg Marxen, and his legally married wife."
When he swore allegiance to his new country in Philadelphia on August 25, 1751 he signed his name Marx Kurrmann.
In the records of St. Michael's Evangelical Church in Germantown, PA he is listed as Marcus Kurrman where he is a witness to the marriage of Magdelina Kurmann on October 30, 1759.
Dr. Bodo Otto’s will says: “pay unto the children of heirs of my deceased daughter Maria Elizabeth Marxen like sum of fifty dollars in speci to be divided to and amongst them in equal shares alike or to either of their representatives.”
It wasn’t until a receipt signed by Frederick Carman was found in the papers of James Gibson, Dr. Otto researcher and author of the book Dr. Bodo Otto and the Medical Background of the American Revolution, that what was "known" to be true through oral tradition could be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt – Marcus Kirmann and Mark Carman were one and the same, and his wife was the only daughter of Dr. Bodo Otto.
I was thrilled when I learned that a granddaughter of Dr. Otto married a man named Joslin. That made me a direct descendant of Dr. Bodo Otto, the Revolutionary War doctor who serve uner General Washinton and who set up several of the hospitals used by the troops. Specifically, my Joslyn and Otto lines link when Margaret Carman married Hosea Joslin in 1814. As their “daughter” descendant I am as much an Otto as those of my generation who were born with the Otto surname – genetically we are all eight generations removed from our common ancestor. I just don't carry the Otto or Carman name. The same can be said about any of my family lines marrying into my Joslyn line.
Hosea Joslin (1796-1880)and his wife Margaret Carman Joslin (1796-1891)
The Joslin name was also spelled many different ways in early records.
The children and grandchildren of Hosea and Margaret are recorded with many spelling variations and often several of these spellings appear in the same source. For example, these are just some of the ways I have seen the name spelled in public documents: Jocelyn, Goslin, Jocelin, Joslen, Josselyn, Josselin and Josyln.
Oral history has it that my great grandmother, Alma Eldredge Joslyn, liked the way her new married name looked with the “y” instead of an “i.” So, our history was rewritten and for the last four generations our branch of the family spelled their surname Joslyn. Some first and middle names are also spelled differently than we spell them today.
Why did spelling vary so much? As a historian for my community, I know that many of our pioneer settlers arrived with one name and within a few years were know by a variation of that name. Today, some of those changes make perfect sense while others are impossible to figure out. The names, especially the names of non-native English speaking people, were often written as the recorder heard that name pronounced and thought it should be spelled - not as the name holder spelled it. Sometimes the recorder simply made a mistake – a typo of sorts. There are many reasons this happened including that some recorders had only a rudimentary education and that the education system was such that most were not aware of a universal spelling standard. We may know our ancestors by their two or three given names and assume they went by the first name which is often not the name they were know by during their lifetime.
I may never have found a wealth of information about my ancestors or my kinship to Dr. Bodo Otto had I checked only Carman and Joslyn records, or by the first names I thought they should have. Who knows what you’ll discover if you are open to spelling and name variations. my favorite example of this is the census entry of Hiram Faron that is indexed at "Twain Farm."
Thanks to the help of others, I was able to hold and study the Bible where Hosea and Margaret Carman Joslin recorded the vital records for their family. Also in teh Bible were handwritten recipies and a favorite Bible verse. The Bible verse that was written by Hosea now graces the wall in our guest room. Flanking the Bible verse are the surnames of my family's ancestors. A family tree doubles each generation - two parents - four grandparents- eight great grandparents etc. so the list goes only through my husband's amd my great grandparents.
My side of the family lists: Joslyn, Eldredge, Clark, Withers, Kirkley, Faron, Quitmeier and Knoop. Mike's side has one less name since I have not as yet located the maiden name of one of his great grandmothers. Mike's side of the family lists: Hughes, Martens, Schallert, Larson, Lund, Aska and Govig. Two of our children have married and Colliton, Kocha, Smith and MacKinnon have been added to our family of names. A melting pot of heritages joined together into one family.
The Bible verse Hosea Joslin chose to write in his family Bible nearly 200 years ago is:
A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches . . .
Proverbs 22:1
