What's in a name? That which we call a rose would by any other name smell as sweet.
So posits Juliet to Romeo, in so saying she expresses her belief that there is no power in the given name. I am reluctant to argue with Mr. Shakespeare but I have come to believe in the power of the mythic narrative and within the narrative, the power and destiny imbued with a given name.
Now, I will not discount coincidence or even tragic irony, but as it was from the very beginning when The Lord gave Adam the task of naming all the animals, it was at this point in giving names, that man came to have dominion over all that he had named and power over all the earth. I believe in the power and destiny of a given name.
A few weeks back while struggling to restore lost files and folders to my business computer [see "Wasted Days & Wasted Nights" blog], I began to climb around in the on-line Family Tree that my wife had started researching last year. Specifically I was looking for Civil War service from the Keyser Family of Virginia and wondering if my Great Great Grandfather, Alexander Hamilton Keyser (Sargent with the 33rd Virginia Infantry Regiment (Company H, "Page Grays"); Stonewall Brigade) had served with any of his brothers or brothers-in-law. I was searching for records of any soldiers with the name Kite; likely brothers of his wife, Bellzoria Kite Keyser. I traced out some details on the Kite family branch.
What's in a name?
First, I run into a recognizable and familiar name to any one with a $10 bill in their wallet. My Great Great Grandfather on my maternal grandmother's side, Alexander Hamilton Keyser. Interesting that he served under General Thomas Jefferson "Stonewall" Jackson, Hamilton and Jefferson being bitter rivals and founding members of America's first divergent political parties; the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. I see that it was not uncommon among the first generation of United States citizens to give a child a first and second name honoring great men of the early Republic (I have not found anyone with Aaron Burr [surname], and doubt I will).
What's in a name?
Belle Kite (1843-1913) married Alexander Hamilton Keyser (1837-1910) in October of 1866 and raised eight children, one of whom they named William Noah Keyser (1871-1965), he being my Great Grandfather on my mother's side. There is quite a span of Williams' on that side of the tree, along with a fair amount of Georges, as well as some Johns. These are common names, may be chosen to honor a favorite uncle or such, but they do not invoke anything singular or special. Ask people what comes to mind with the name William or John and I'll bet you get as many different answers as the number of people you ask. But my Great Grandfather, William Noah got his middle name from his mother's father, Noah Kite (3/24/1814-9/29/1870).
What's in a name?
Ask anyone what they think of when they hear the name Noah, and I'll hazard a guess that you'll get a lot of single minded answers split between thinking of "flood" of some variation of "animal/ark in the Great Flood". Noah is one of those names that sharpens all thought to a single event, in this case, the Flood from the Book of Genesis. So, what is in a name when you carry a moniker so tied to a single event, such as 40 days and 40 nights of rain to flood all the earth? "Noah and the Flood" have been preached for millenniums and the story is shared among half the cultures inhabiting this now dried off planet.
Be circumspect when you select a name. There is power and fate wrapped and folded with a given name. The following is a story about my Great Great Great Grandfather, his wife and the six children still with them on the farm; their life and their death along the banks of Virginia's Shenandoah River:
From The Kite Family History, by Virginia A. Kite, 1889.
Noah Kite and his family lived at Columbia Mills, Virginia, where he owned and operated a large flour mill, a store, and other enterprises that made Columbia a busy little mart. He was a man of great energy, public spirited and surrounded by a happy family and contented employees. This little community, blessed with so much to make them satisfied and happy, presented a condition of domestic tranquility seldom found in the country. His farm was an ideal one, well stocked and highly cultivated, which was a source of pride to the whole family. Proud of his heritage, and with an intelligent, loving wife and children, no man could have desired more. This was the picture of Noah Kite and his family when the terrible flood of September 29th, 1870 burst upon them.
A ceaseless downpour of rain had continued for several days, and the little streams soon widened into creeks, and the river that had always been so placid and beautiful, winding its way among the farms, and by its perpetual activity encouraging the natives to greater exertion; had now grown into a raging torrent, that swept the low grounds of every living thing in its path. The rain continued and the waters in the river rose higher and spread wider and wider over the beautiful farms. The poor, bewildered farmers looked in dismay upon the vanishing crops, but no one had the remotest idea that any worse danger threatened them.
On the evening of the 29th of September 1870, Noah Kite saw the dark muddy waters gradually rising in the house. When the first floor was untenable, he took his family to the next floor, and soon the second floor was flooded, and with all possibility of escape gone, they could do nothing but climb out on the roof and pray for deliverance. His wife and children were all out on the roof in the pelting, ceaseless rain that still continued. Night came on. And in the pitchy darkness the old home began to rock, and in a moment it swung from its moorings, and with its cargo of humanity, and the accumulation of years in the old house, it dashed down the stream, impatient at the time these helpless doomed people had to live.
No pen can describe the anguish of their hearts as they looked upon their little ones in their helplessness. One by one the children lost their hold and were swallowed up by the murderous waters. With their hearts breaking, and their prayers for rescue unanswered, they still tried with all their might to hold the children together. But with all their efforts, as the old housetop careened and trembled, they would find another one gone, and then another, until none were left but the father and mother. They had seen their little ones drop into the very jaws of death, unable to do more than say farewell. These two, who had been devoted companions for so many years. And who had feasted their souls in the pride of their loved ones, had seen their offering, as it appeared to them, refused and cast aside, and they stood now bereft of every gift of God but their immortal souls, and these, the devouring waters demanded. Louder than the roar of the flood was heard the breaking of the timbers, and the old house went to pieces. The souls of these good old people went up out of the water and joined their children.
Nothing in the annals of history equals the horrors of this flood of the Shenandoah. except the Johnstown flood. Many persons were drowned, houses were washed away and the destruction of the corn and wheat crops and cattle along the course of the river was incalculable. Noah Kite's body was found six months after the flood in a drift in Long's Bottom, recent rains having washed the debris away, disclosing a human body, which was identified by a ring he wore as Noah Kite's. His wife's body was found a few weeks after the flood in Long's Bottom also. Eudora, the beautiful daughter, was found in the top of a sycamore tree near Luray. As she was known to be an expert swimmer, it is supposed she swam to this tree, where she died from exhaustion. Elenora Kite Norman's body was found at Front Royal, a distance of thirty miles from home. The two younger sons' bodies were found on Mr. Henkle's farm, and tenderly laid to rest in the old Kite burying ground.
Before the blinding, driving rain began, how beautifully glowed the green fields, the well staked vineyards, the luscious apples blushing in the rays of the rising sun, the mighty hills tranquil as eternity, covered with haystacks and grain and all the products of nature that make the farmer contented. This verdant valley became in a night a nere waste of sand and debris. Fortune, that smiled so benignantly on Noah Kite's family one day, had turned a devastating hand upon them the next, and the two boys who escaped death found themselves bereft of everything on earth but themselves. Their fortunes had gone with the drowned family down the river, and they had to seek shelter and a place to lay their heads among their more fortunate friends. The son George Kite was saved by his brother Erasmus Kite and Mr. Martin. George was carried to the barn and drifted to a straw rick, where they stayed for thirty-six hours before being rescued by neighbors.
[The author, Virginia Kite, was a sister of my Great Great Grandmother, Bellzoria "Belle" Kite. Belle married Alexander Hamilton "Ham"* Keyser in 1866 and thus had moved off her father's farm by 1870, she was 6 months pregnant with her son William Noah when both her parents and four of her younger brothers and sisters were swept away and drown]
(*)Another irony: the nickname of Belle Keyser's husband was "Ham"; Ham being the the name of one of Noah's sons in Genesis.
********************
I recall hearing a story once from my mother when I was quite young about people caught in a flood back east, in the old days, who survived by clinging to a matted haystack as it floated down a flooded river. I recently asked my mother if she recalled that flood story? And if so, would it have been the Great Shenandoah Flood of 1870? Mom said she could not recall ever telling me that story. Never-the-less, I was impressed at the time by the details that while those flood victims found fortune in a floating haystack, they also had to share their straw ark with venomous cotton mouths and other snakes, rodents and insects fleeing the rising waters. I do not recall if these other critters seeking safety climbed onto the straw two-by-two.
Noah and his family drowned in the Great Flood - 143 years ago today. Not the twist I was expecting with a name like Noah.
So posits Juliet to Romeo, in so saying she expresses her belief that there is no power in the given name. I am reluctant to argue with Mr. Shakespeare but I have come to believe in the power of the mythic narrative and within the narrative, the power and destiny imbued with a given name.
Now, I will not discount coincidence or even tragic irony, but as it was from the very beginning when The Lord gave Adam the task of naming all the animals, it was at this point in giving names, that man came to have dominion over all that he had named and power over all the earth. I believe in the power and destiny of a given name.
A few weeks back while struggling to restore lost files and folders to my business computer [see "Wasted Days & Wasted Nights" blog], I began to climb around in the on-line Family Tree that my wife had started researching last year. Specifically I was looking for Civil War service from the Keyser Family of Virginia and wondering if my Great Great Grandfather, Alexander Hamilton Keyser (Sargent with the 33rd Virginia Infantry Regiment (Company H, "Page Grays"); Stonewall Brigade) had served with any of his brothers or brothers-in-law. I was searching for records of any soldiers with the name Kite; likely brothers of his wife, Bellzoria Kite Keyser. I traced out some details on the Kite family branch.
What's in a name?
First, I run into a recognizable and familiar name to any one with a $10 bill in their wallet. My Great Great Grandfather on my maternal grandmother's side, Alexander Hamilton Keyser. Interesting that he served under General Thomas Jefferson "Stonewall" Jackson, Hamilton and Jefferson being bitter rivals and founding members of America's first divergent political parties; the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. I see that it was not uncommon among the first generation of United States citizens to give a child a first and second name honoring great men of the early Republic (I have not found anyone with Aaron Burr [surname], and doubt I will).
What's in a name?
Belle Kite (1843-1913) married Alexander Hamilton Keyser (1837-1910) in October of 1866 and raised eight children, one of whom they named William Noah Keyser (1871-1965), he being my Great Grandfather on my mother's side. There is quite a span of Williams' on that side of the tree, along with a fair amount of Georges, as well as some Johns. These are common names, may be chosen to honor a favorite uncle or such, but they do not invoke anything singular or special. Ask people what comes to mind with the name William or John and I'll bet you get as many different answers as the number of people you ask. But my Great Grandfather, William Noah got his middle name from his mother's father, Noah Kite (3/24/1814-9/29/1870).
What's in a name?
Ask anyone what they think of when they hear the name Noah, and I'll hazard a guess that you'll get a lot of single minded answers split between thinking of "flood" of some variation of "animal/ark in the Great Flood". Noah is one of those names that sharpens all thought to a single event, in this case, the Flood from the Book of Genesis. So, what is in a name when you carry a moniker so tied to a single event, such as 40 days and 40 nights of rain to flood all the earth? "Noah and the Flood" have been preached for millenniums and the story is shared among half the cultures inhabiting this now dried off planet.
Be circumspect when you select a name. There is power and fate wrapped and folded with a given name. The following is a story about my Great Great Great Grandfather, his wife and the six children still with them on the farm; their life and their death along the banks of Virginia's Shenandoah River:
From The Kite Family History, by Virginia A. Kite, 1889.
Noah Kite and his family lived at Columbia Mills, Virginia, where he owned and operated a large flour mill, a store, and other enterprises that made Columbia a busy little mart. He was a man of great energy, public spirited and surrounded by a happy family and contented employees. This little community, blessed with so much to make them satisfied and happy, presented a condition of domestic tranquility seldom found in the country. His farm was an ideal one, well stocked and highly cultivated, which was a source of pride to the whole family. Proud of his heritage, and with an intelligent, loving wife and children, no man could have desired more. This was the picture of Noah Kite and his family when the terrible flood of September 29th, 1870 burst upon them.
A ceaseless downpour of rain had continued for several days, and the little streams soon widened into creeks, and the river that had always been so placid and beautiful, winding its way among the farms, and by its perpetual activity encouraging the natives to greater exertion; had now grown into a raging torrent, that swept the low grounds of every living thing in its path. The rain continued and the waters in the river rose higher and spread wider and wider over the beautiful farms. The poor, bewildered farmers looked in dismay upon the vanishing crops, but no one had the remotest idea that any worse danger threatened them.
On the evening of the 29th of September 1870, Noah Kite saw the dark muddy waters gradually rising in the house. When the first floor was untenable, he took his family to the next floor, and soon the second floor was flooded, and with all possibility of escape gone, they could do nothing but climb out on the roof and pray for deliverance. His wife and children were all out on the roof in the pelting, ceaseless rain that still continued. Night came on. And in the pitchy darkness the old home began to rock, and in a moment it swung from its moorings, and with its cargo of humanity, and the accumulation of years in the old house, it dashed down the stream, impatient at the time these helpless doomed people had to live.
No pen can describe the anguish of their hearts as they looked upon their little ones in their helplessness. One by one the children lost their hold and were swallowed up by the murderous waters. With their hearts breaking, and their prayers for rescue unanswered, they still tried with all their might to hold the children together. But with all their efforts, as the old housetop careened and trembled, they would find another one gone, and then another, until none were left but the father and mother. They had seen their little ones drop into the very jaws of death, unable to do more than say farewell. These two, who had been devoted companions for so many years. And who had feasted their souls in the pride of their loved ones, had seen their offering, as it appeared to them, refused and cast aside, and they stood now bereft of every gift of God but their immortal souls, and these, the devouring waters demanded. Louder than the roar of the flood was heard the breaking of the timbers, and the old house went to pieces. The souls of these good old people went up out of the water and joined their children.
Nothing in the annals of history equals the horrors of this flood of the Shenandoah. except the Johnstown flood. Many persons were drowned, houses were washed away and the destruction of the corn and wheat crops and cattle along the course of the river was incalculable. Noah Kite's body was found six months after the flood in a drift in Long's Bottom, recent rains having washed the debris away, disclosing a human body, which was identified by a ring he wore as Noah Kite's. His wife's body was found a few weeks after the flood in Long's Bottom also. Eudora, the beautiful daughter, was found in the top of a sycamore tree near Luray. As she was known to be an expert swimmer, it is supposed she swam to this tree, where she died from exhaustion. Elenora Kite Norman's body was found at Front Royal, a distance of thirty miles from home. The two younger sons' bodies were found on Mr. Henkle's farm, and tenderly laid to rest in the old Kite burying ground.
Before the blinding, driving rain began, how beautifully glowed the green fields, the well staked vineyards, the luscious apples blushing in the rays of the rising sun, the mighty hills tranquil as eternity, covered with haystacks and grain and all the products of nature that make the farmer contented. This verdant valley became in a night a nere waste of sand and debris. Fortune, that smiled so benignantly on Noah Kite's family one day, had turned a devastating hand upon them the next, and the two boys who escaped death found themselves bereft of everything on earth but themselves. Their fortunes had gone with the drowned family down the river, and they had to seek shelter and a place to lay their heads among their more fortunate friends. The son George Kite was saved by his brother Erasmus Kite and Mr. Martin. George was carried to the barn and drifted to a straw rick, where they stayed for thirty-six hours before being rescued by neighbors.
[The author, Virginia Kite, was a sister of my Great Great Grandmother, Bellzoria "Belle" Kite. Belle married Alexander Hamilton "Ham"* Keyser in 1866 and thus had moved off her father's farm by 1870, she was 6 months pregnant with her son William Noah when both her parents and four of her younger brothers and sisters were swept away and drown]
(*)Another irony: the nickname of Belle Keyser's husband was "Ham"; Ham being the the name of one of Noah's sons in Genesis.
********************
I recall hearing a story once from my mother when I was quite young about people caught in a flood back east, in the old days, who survived by clinging to a matted haystack as it floated down a flooded river. I recently asked my mother if she recalled that flood story? And if so, would it have been the Great Shenandoah Flood of 1870? Mom said she could not recall ever telling me that story. Never-the-less, I was impressed at the time by the details that while those flood victims found fortune in a floating haystack, they also had to share their straw ark with venomous cotton mouths and other snakes, rodents and insects fleeing the rising waters. I do not recall if these other critters seeking safety climbed onto the straw two-by-two.
Noah and his family drowned in the Great Flood - 143 years ago today. Not the twist I was expecting with a name like Noah.
1 comment:
Thanks for transcribing the story of Noah Kite.
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