Week 10 - Name's the Same - Winfield Scott

 

Week 10: Name’s the Same - Winfield Scott

Amy asked two questions to prime the pump for this week’s topic. Is there a name that keeps popping up in your family tree? Have you had to sort out multiple people with the same name?

My answer to both questions is yes, but I’ve decided to do something slightly different. When you work with ancestors born in the 19^th and early 20^th century, it is not unusual to come upon male ancestors named after presidents and other well known leaders from their day, for example, George Washington Carver.

With this in mind, I went looking for someone named after a celebrity of his day and found one in my wife’s Family Tree. He’s a 3^rd Great-Granduncle by the name of Winfield Scott Bontrager (1852-1927). Knowing military history, I immediately recognized the name of the famous 19^th century military leader, Winfield Scott (1786-1866).

Way before our modern communications methods of radio, TV, the internet, and social media, Winfield Scott was a household name whom one could always read about in 19^th and early 20^th century newspapers and magazines. His nicknames were, “Old Fuss and Feathers” for his insistence on military discipline and appearance, and “the Grand Old Man of the Army” because of his 54 years of exemplary service to his country.

General Winfield Scott and Uncle Winfield Scott Bontrager shared the same name, the love of big families and full lives.

 General Winfield Scott     Winfield Scott Bontrager

  

Winfield Scott Bontrager, nicknamed “Scotty”, was born the same year that Winfield Scott ran for president in 1852. His parents, David and Carolyn Bontrager, obviously liked the sound of this name for their youngest son. It implied strength of character and a lifetime of success. Scotty was born in Ohio, and together with his wife Katie Cobb, had nine children while farming for 60 years in Kansas and Oklahoma. He died at age 74 and is buried in the town of Cement in Caddo County, Oklahoma.

General Winfield Scott was born in Petersburg, Virginia. He and his wife Maria had seven children. But he spent his entire career, beginning in 1807, in the Army. The General died at age 79 in 1866 and is buried at The US Military Academy at West Point, New York.

While I was researching this branch of the family, much to my delight I discovered that Winfield Scott Bontrager’s father-in-law’s name followed this same naming convention. He was Andrew Jackson Cobb.