ID

We found a tickler at the Archives today. My coworker is archiving marriage records from the 1990s. On the marriage application forms, potential brides and grooms must fill in a line labeled “Identification,” indicating what kind of proof of ID they have. On most forms, we see “Driver’s License,” or “Birth Certificate,” but one groom wrote something to the effect of “Scar under left eye and above left knee.” Hah.

In the past, we’ve seen a few forms on which lovebirds wrote “Human” on the line labeled “Race.”

I usually work with older records, from the time before ID, when people weren’t even forced to decide on a consistent surname spelling. I like reading the old names and keep a list at work of the funny or illustrious names I’ve found. I can’t remember them all at the moment, but these three have stuck in my mind:

Ananais McCoy—Ananais is a name that needs reviving, for all the strong, silent men.

Prettiman Jones—I pronounce this one “Pretty Man” and see a smooth talker, gorgeous, African-American, tipping hat and winking at ladies.

Mordecai Mendinghouse—This name needs to have its own poem, complete with a lonely, serious, bearded man, stocky in his black hat and suspenders, clopping slowly up a dirt road into town in his horse-pulled wagon. He likes his horses.