What's in a Name?

Oblong Boy marries Normal Girl
Some years ago, someone told me the story of going to Illinois and picking up a newspaper that had an article with the title "Oblong Boy Marries Normal Girl." The article recounted the wedding of a young man from Oblong, IL, marrying a young woman from Normal, IL. The person's point was that context determines meaning. In a moment you will see the connection with Timothy Dakin's family and that odd names seem to be a theme of this part of the Dakin story.


Maybe Not Completely in Concord
In Hulda's 54th year (1723), Timothy was born in Concord, MA. We can assume that he grew up in Concord and in 1744 was married to Lydia Fish. The religion of Timothy is list in a little used line of the vitals as "Society of Friends (Quakers)" and to re-enforce the importance of that notation, the couple's first (for whom we have birth record) child, Thomas, was born in Quaker Hill, NY.


If There Is Anything I Can't Stand It Is An Intolerant Person
So how did Timothy become a Quaker? The only clue I've turned up is that Lydia was from Portsmouth, RI. The irony that Rhode Island was the only colony that provided religious freedom for its residents when all of New England was filled with those who had come to New England to escape religious perscution seems to have been totally lost on Puritans in general and probably those in Concord. Many a Quaker had been convicted of witch craft so Rhode Island was an oasis of sorts. Though it is far from certain, it could be that Lydia came from a Quaker family and was instrumental in converting Timothy. How Timothy met Lydia and, even more, how he could have left the watchful eye of his parents at age 20 to become entangled with a woman of another faith is yet a mystery. What is not a mystery is that once he became part of the Society of Friends, Timothy (and Lydia) left Concord or perhaps never lived in Concord at all for friendlier climes.


More Contention
The next step has a couple of interesting twists. The child after Thomas, was born in Oblong, NY. Oblong was not a town, but rather the description of a section of land under despute between Conneticut (English) and New Amsterdam (Dutch) later called New York, colonies. Oblong is in Putnam County, NY, on the other side of the state line from Danbury, CT.


A Name Preserved
If that were not curious enough. The child's name was "Preserved Fish." It is difficult to imagine a more cruel misuse of parental power than to name one's child Preserved Fish. Coming to the defense of the parents one might argue, well Lydia's maiden name was Fish so the middle name could be explained as keeping the family name alive. Perhaps, "preserved" had a spiritual connotation. Maybe, the child had been miraculously spared death during child birth. A little more looking provides another explanation, at least for Timothy & Lydia's child. Lydia's father's name was Thomas. His father's name was "Preserved Fish." Lydia appears to have had some some serious influence in religion and names in the family.


Strong Women
It was somewhat unusual for the mother's family names to be given to the first two male children, especially one that one which rather than being preserved deserved extinction after its first use. It appears that in the last two Dakin generations, moms were a considerable force within the family.



The children of Timothy and Lydia came along about every 2-3 years between 1745 and 1771: Ruth, Thomas, Preserved Fish, Worster, Mercy, Phebe, Mary, Paul, Timothy, Joshua, Zebulon, and Ebenezer.